


Princess of the Swarm

by Howling_Din



Category: StarCraft
Genre: Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-16
Updated: 2017-06-19
Packaged: 2018-09-17 20:20:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 39,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9341573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Howling_Din/pseuds/Howling_Din
Summary: Created to be the next leader of the Zerg, the titular Princess is the the half-human offspring of Overqueen Zagara. When she is dispatched to a newly charted world to defeat its feral inhabitants and prove her ability to the Swarm, she will be met with opposition and setbacks that will force her to face realities of nature and being a Zerg. (Post-LotV)





	1. The Little One

**Part I: The Conquest of Nature**

The walls, floor and ceiling were made of biomass; damp, living and healthy. The rounded, smooth architecture liked to shift and stretch itself in certain areas. Given this, it maintained its shape with diligence.

She walked on this living floor on two feet. All of her breathing, vocal and eating orifices were concentrated to an extended section atop her body, as were her sensory organs. She was humanoid with a pair of arms and opposable thumbs. Both her eyes oriented forward, with emphasis on depth perception, but they were a glowing blue, with oval-shaped pupils. She stopped in front of a door. It would not yet open.

"Your public awaits you, little one." The voice was smoothly accented, and carried a hint of sarcasm. She turned, it came from a somewhat more humanoid man leaning against the wall. He was a Terran, with features of infestation mostly concentrated on his left arm, and a glowing aura that concealed his eyes and the damaged parts of his face.

"Mom holds a summit every two hundred days." She replied, turning to look forward again. "All of the senior Broodmothers are in the main hall."

"And why do you think Zagara wants you in there?"

"I was summoned, Alexei."

"Yes, but why?"

"Why do I think?"

"Yes." Alexei had a small, amused smile.

She took a breath, now looking downward and letting her composure slip. "Probably... to test me. Mom likes to do that."

He itched his neck with his infested arm. "You could always try to kill her if it gets too much. We Zerg are big on natural selection."

She laughed briefly at this, now smiling and looking his way again. "That's what I like about you, Alexei. Always thinking." She stopped herself, looking ahead again, sobered. "But... I like it when I pass her tests. I like it when mom is satisfied, and tells me what a good girl I am."

"Mm," he took his claws off his neck, finished itching it. "I suppose you're a bit young for matricide, even by Zerg standards."

"She's fair to me... Tough, but fair. I..." She shook her head." I don't know what part of me it's coming from, but I don't want to fight her like I want to fight other things. I'd fight other Broodmothers like her, have fought them. But not her. To me she's my mother, and I'll only ever have one."

"It's definitely a Terran trait," he said. "They're big on family ties, and you've got quite a bit of Terran in you."

"Terran..." She looked at her own hand, with five clawed fingers and an opposable thumb. "Did my mother use Terran essence, knowing it to be inferior to the alternatives? Is it some kind of test in itself?"

"Maybe." Alexei shrugged. "It's been awhile since I've seen young people trying to work through their issues. Yet another Terran trait for certain."

"I saw Abathur the other day. He analyzed me ruthlessly, as he does everything. Used the phrase: 'Engineered obsolescence' to describe me."

"That thing is a glorified research computer. You shouldn't take him too seriously."

She looked at him, making eye contact with the glowing aura concealing his eyes. "Why are you being so supportive, Alexei? Is there something you want from me?" She was frowning.

He didn't shift, or change his facial direction. "No."

"Then what's your angle here? Are you trying to read me?"

He stood straight from leaning on the wall. "Saraslha, not every interaction is about dominance."

"What are you babbling about?" She was still turned to face him, a hand passive-mindedly set on her hip.

He walked the opposite direction from the door, waving her off without looking back. "Your public awaits you, little one."

"Hmph," she turned back to the door. It opened promptly, revealing a giant head with a round mouth and no eyes to speak of. It extended out from the wall on its flexible neck and swallowed her whole.

She was not alarmed in the slightest by this as the giant worm's esophagus moved her at an extremely fast speed through its length. The material all around her contracted behind her trajectory and loosened ahead of it, propelling her ahead. It was warm and lubricated, and did not hurt.

Another large worm head was hanging from the ceiling of a massive hall, above a platform in the center. It regurgitated Saraslha onto the platform, and she landed on her feet. There was an overhead, but otherwise the open skies of the planet Char were visible above in the open-aired hall.

A being was on the platform with Saraslha. It stood on a formation of pointed feet in a spider-like arrangement, with a centaur-esque upper body that had a pair of arms, and a head whose large cranium was shaped in an imposing diadem of horns and carapace. Its name was Zagara, and she spoke telepathically: _"Senior Queens of the Swarm: I present to you my creation. My daughter, Saraslha."_

Sarashla turned, and saw the assembly hall packed with similar-looking beings. She heard their psionic voices. Voices that expressed surprise, curiosity. Some broadcast confusion.

Zagara continued: _"As of this day, Saraslha will be as one of you: A queen of the Swarm, and a contender for Overqueen. She will compete with all of you as you compete with one another."_

One of the Swarm Queens' voice spoke up above the others: _"Will the Overqueen show favoritism to this one? Does she consider it her heir?"_

" _I owe no explanations."_ Zagara said. _"It is my will. And mine is the will of the Swarm. Saraslha will contend for my leadership alongside the rest of you. This is not a ratification, it is a declaration."_

The psionic voices of the other Swarm Queens quieted; backed down. They did not dare challenge Zagara.

This was it, Saraslha thought. Her mother was putting her through another test. Indeed, it was the start of her greatest test yet. She turned back and looked up at her mother's head; her eyes. She knew how to speak with or without her mouth, and decided to observe the trend of the moment. _"What is it you would have me do, mother?"_

Zagara looked down at her. _"In the coming days, you will be sent to the distant planet of Sephulli. You will tame the renegade broods there, who will become the foundation of your swarm. This is your coming of age, Saraslha."_ She now looked over past Saraslha, at the gathered Swarm Queens. _"She will be one of us only after she passes this ordeal; proves her ability to lead Zerg; to survive and thrive in a hostile environment. This should be satisfactory to all."_

When her answer was compliant silence, she continued: _"The fifth Summit of Char is now concluded. You will all return to your Hive Clusters."_

Flying overhead were massive organisms that choked out the black and red skies. Each extended down a Nydus Worm, identical to the one which transported Saraslha to the hall, each of which picked up one of the beings in attendance. They did not slow in their overhead pass as three or four were picked up at a time.

Zagara faced down at Saraslha once more. _"Come, daughter. There is much to discuss."_

They walked together along the narrow bridge from the platform, through a beak-like biological door, and into a corridor. "So..." Saraslha trailed as they walked together alone. She on two feet, Zagara on a formation of them. She suddenly had a huge smile. "I get to go to a new planet?"

" _Indeed you do."_

"I'm not terribly great at controlling Zerg. Once I get past twenty at a time, it gets hard."

" _The Char Broodmothers you've had war games with say you're a clever tactician. That your brain is too large for your own good. You turn down their demands to settle the match with a duel, and force them into submission with minions."_

"Yeah, a clever tactician. With my grand army of twenty or so combat Zerg." She said this sarcastically.

" _Everybody has a limit, Saraslha. Create Overlords to facilitate your psionic control, and your capacity will multiply-"_

She abruptly walked in front of her mother, stopping them both. "You threw me in front of a huge crowd today, without any warning. And that crowd was every senior Swarm Queen from outside Char."

" _What of it?"_

She inhaled in annoyance, clenching her teeth. "What- What was your intention? What were you planning to happen?"

Zagara was calm as ever, patiently accepting their stop. _"You are my heir, Saraslha. At least that's what I'm hoping you become. A ruler announces her heir to all peers, so that there is no ambiguity."_

She calmed at this explanation, exhaling. "That's... really what you want for me, is it?"

" _What I want is of little consequence."_ She walked ahead, placing a hand on Saraslha's back to bring her along. _"You will become what you will become. And whether it works or not, I look forward to seeing the outcome."_

Saraslha smiled lightly at this, a smile not visible to her mother behind her. She took it as meaning she should live her life as she saw fit, and not worry so much about what her mother expected.

Zagara was the next to speak, after they turned at an intersection in the corridors. " _The renegade Zerg on Sephulli were found by a survey party from the Terran Dominion. Their leaders spoke to me about it, asking if I had a claim on the world. I was truthful, and disavowed knowledge of the Zerg there, informing them as much that they had to be leaderless renegades."_

"The Terran Dominion..." The name of a human-centered interstellar empire which bordered Zerg space, and with whom they had a non-aggression agreement. "The Broodmothers on Char- the ones I know. If I make one upset with me, she will call me Terran. They view it as an insult."

" _You were born a Zerg, daughter. But much of you was created using Terran essence."_

"Why?" She asked forcefully, looking upward, and not looking back at her mother. "Why... don't we destroy them? The Terrans. We are stronger than them, are we not?"

" _What would we gain from a war with the Dominion?"_

"Resources, essence, territory- the spoils of war."

Zagara's eyes became broad, joyous. _"You... lack vision, child."_ There was joy in her voice as she lightheartedly brought her hook-claw hand over her shoulder, shaking it a bit as they walked. _"Vision is something you must learn, if you are to ever lead the Swarm."_

Saraslha brushed it off as she turned around to face her, walking backwards. "Pray tell, mother. What do you see that I don't?"

" _Blindly making war to everything different; killing, absorbing, assimilating. This universe of certainty and narrow-minded ambition. Such was the way of Amon, and of Amon's puppet ruler, the Overmind."_

"Alexei told me all about Amon. He used to be our God."

" _But no longer. My predecessor, the Queen of Blades, ascended to godhood and cast Amon down. We now follow the destiny she has set for us. She is our God now."_

They emerged to a broad terrace-like area. The top of the railing wall was lined with teeth, and it overlooked the sheer cliffs, bodies of magma and black stone which defined Char's landscape from the vantage point of the mesa atop which the mammoth structure was formed. They oversaw this view, next to one another.

"And what does She have to say about our need to evolve; our need to fight and grow?"

" _Simply destroying your opposition is not enough. If you cannot take what made them strong; appropriate their value, and use it for your own benefit, then there was no purpose in fighting them. It would be a waste of energy."_

"Survival is a purpose," she argued. "And you have to kill to survive."

" _You also need to grow to survive. And growth; true growth, is never natural and never comfortable. And it is not meant to be such; it is meant to challenge our comforts and challenge our nature."_

"So you think making peace with another race is a bold new idea; a necessary violation of the Swarm's comfort zone which we must overcome."

" _Precisely."_

"That's stupid. Let us at least rule them, and ensure they are of no threat. Then we can see about stealing their strength."

The Overqueen slowly shook her head at this. _"One of the Terrans' strengths, daughter, is the capacity and willingness to form cordial relationships with other races. The Dominion is allied with the Daelaam Protoss. If we invade them, these Protoss will come to their aid. It is risky, and foolish to war with two enemies at once."_

Saraslha sighed in concession to this point. "You... were there, weren't you? Alexei told me the story."

" _That one enjoys telling you stories, does he?_

She grinned at this, getting into the zone. "He told it like this: The End War, in which everything was laid on the line. I killed Narud -the bastard-, and then saw the forces of Terran, Zerg and Protoss come together, and give that son of a bitch Amon his comeuppance."

" _That... definitely sounds like Stukov."_

"You fought in that battle, didn't you, mother?" Her look was beaming gently up to Zagara's eyes. They were admiring toward her. "You were one of those Heroes, who helped save all life, including the Zerg."

" _We... fought beside the Queen of Blades against Amon. The Terrans did the same as us. And the Protoss did the same as us. We all had something in common that day."_

"And that's why you don't want to fight them again." This was it, she thought. She would nail down why her mother was so disinclined toward invading the Terrans. And also, perhaps why she was created with similarities to them.

She set her hook claw hands on the railing. _"Tell me, Saraslha. What is it that makes the Zerg strong?"_

"Efficiency. All reproductive duties are delegated to specialized organisms. These specialized organisms are also able to ingest elements from the planet itself into vast amounts of energy and convertible substance. We reproduce quickly, and replace our losses quickly. Our fighting breeds are equally specialized and efficient, as are our thinking minds."

" _What I was getting to..."_ She mused. _"Some of our greatest strains were borne of accidental mutation made by Zerg in a no-survival situation, that they might survive. Life is capable of incredible feats when the alternatives are taken away."_

"What does this have to do with the Terrans?"

" _The Terrans, I've learned, are as a race like a single Zerg in a no-survival situation. They are not as powerful as we Zerg, nor wise as the Protoss. This has led them to develop unique mutations."_

"The humans are builders and tool makers, mother. Reliant on their technology. How would they mutate like we do?"

" _Every member of their species is in possession of a higher-functioning brain. Our kind would regard this as a wasteful expenditure of energy; surely it is only a race's leaders and planners who would require such disproportionately large brain mass. Giving it to their lower-level beings would only sow disorder and make unification difficult."_

"It's probably the only part of my Terran essence I find useful. That, and my thumbs."

" _Every Terran individual is an independent cell, and every one of these cells has a chance of developing new traits. This, for them is done in the realm of knowledge and technology."_

"I'm sure a handful of the Humans are exceptional." Saraslha said begrudgingly. "Like Stukov, or the one who became the Queen of Blades. But their potential came out only after they became Zerg. And it doesn't give the original form any kind of power which we lack."

Zagara turned away from the view of the landscape, peering down at Saraslha. _"You must study history, daughter. The Terrans have come up with countless ingenious solutions to their trials which Zerg minds would never have considered. They have created weapons which gave the entire Swarm pause, and threw our Leader and her lieutenant minds into panic before a countermeasure was found."_ She looked ahead again. _"This clever mind, and need to overcome internal limitations are traits I deliberately gave to you. I am curious whether they will come to light during your mission on Sephulli._

"Yes..." She had to think about that. Her latest trial. The approval she'd get from her mother if she succeeded. "I won't be seeing you for a while."

" _It is a distant planet, out of range of my psionic connection. You will not hear from me until your return."_

"What are the details?"

" _You will go with a single transport, as well as a small escort. What a Dominion scouting party would view as a Zerg scouting party. Kill or take control of all renegade broods. Once you have conquered the planet, you will use its resources to cultivate a Leviathan. Decompose any broods you cannot bring with you, and return to Char triumphant."_

Saraslha processed this, nodding. "Why shouldn't I leave broods behind, to occupy the planet?"

" _The Dominion desires the planet, and they found it first. I offered to clean up the renegade broods as a sign of good faith. It is easier for us than for them."_

"So we're letting the Terrans have the planet." She gripped her hand around one of the teeth of the railing, extremely hard. "Isn't that just sweet." her voice was angry and spiteful. The tooth cracked internally from the force of her grip.

" _They view us as accountable for all Zerg- even leaderless renegade Zerg."_

"We're not. If we clean up the mess then we should get the planet."

" _We will be showing them something it is important they be shown: That we are permeable to reason. That we can negotiate, and have a mutually beneficial relationship. An interspecies symbiosis."_

"And what do we gain from this 'symbiosis?'"

" _I would think- hope, perhaps, that it gives our future Overqueen valuable experience, as well as her first flagship, when she uses the planet's resources to create a Leviathan."_

"Hmph," she nodded upward, at the view of Char's landscape. "I think it's giving 'our future Overqueen' a grudge against the Terrans."

Zagara's psionic voice could be heard laughing at this. _"I could not ask for a more amusing child. I want you to rule the Zerg one day, Saraslha. This means I want you to earn it."_

"...I'll do it." She calmed. "I'll do as you will. And I'll return to Char with a Leviathan. I won't leave any Zerg alive on Sephulli."

" _I am pleased to hear this."_

She took a deep breath, steeling herself. "Before I leave, there's... something I'd like to ask you."

" _Yes..? What is it?"_

Saraslha had a hand gripping the elbow of her other arm, she was staring downward, away. "It's... kind of emotional. You might dismiss it as a quirk, from the Terran essence used to make me."

" _I will take it seriously, daughter. Ask your question."_

"Am I... just an experiment to you? Something you're just trying out, because you think it might be interesting?"

" _Saraslha, I will concede that I deliberately created you to be different from me. I do not experience emotions in the same manner as you."_

Saraslha hugged her. Her head only went up to Zagara's chest, and she buried it into the hard carapace armoring it. "I need to know, mother. Do you... care about me?"

Zagara was still and speechless for a long moment. Watching the smaller being embrace her body. _"Why is it... you need to know this."_

"Because I care about you, mother. And it's like that thing you described with the Terran Dominion; a symbiosis. I need to know if you feel the same way."

" _Daughter, I..."_ She rested her claw hook hands on her shoulders. _"I cannot reciprocate the emotions you express toward me now. We are too different. I could pretend to... I would like to pretend to, and free you from this distraction. But it would be a lie."_

" _I... I see."_ Saraslha was talking psionically as well now. She let go of Zagara, and stood there, tightening her features and sucking her gut. _"I'll get through it, don't you worry about me."_ She donned a fake smile. " _This has been a nice conversation, mother. I'm going to depart for Sephulli tonight."_

" _You will succeed in your trial, Saraslha. And return home stronger, and wiser."_

"Yeah..." As she turned and walked away, she only managed an absent backward hand wave to her mother.

Saraslha exited the broad terrace into another corridor. It was deserted. She walked faster, trying to contain herself as she got further away from what happened. Tried to run away from it.

I'm stronger than this, she told herself. I have to overcome this. I'll overcome anything. I am Zerg. I will adapt, so that nothing can hurt me.

Her brisk walk began to slow. It slowed until it became a shuffle. The desire to be indifferent toward her mother; the resolve to be such, it all melted away with the presence... of her other self. That other part of herself. "I... can't." She said with her human-like vocal cords. She rested her forehead against the biological wall near her, digging her claws into its soft mass. "Why can't I..?" There were breaks in her voice.

Zagara had watched her leave, processing her daughter's behavior. _"Perhaps... it will be a part she outgrows."_

"You are one cold mother, Zagara." The voice was detached and calm.

She turned, and saw Alexei Stukov, revealing himself slightly from around the bend. He was leaning back against the inner wall, only partially concealed. _"I have a task for you, Stukov."_

"Oh..?" he cocked an ear, not moving from his spot.

" _If I give it to you, are you actually going to do it?"_

He chuckled. "It depends. If it isn't a challenge, I'm going to look for a challenge instead."

Stukov was the only part of the Swarm that displayed any insubordination toward the Overqueen and got away with it. He was a being of immense power, and the Zerg were responsive to power. Though it annoyed her, Zagara put up with it, thinking of him as an asset on a loose leash, rather than a defective chess piece. _"I want you to follow Saraslha to Sephulli. Watch over her without revealing yourself, and intervene if her life is in danger."_

He smiled at this, on only one side of his mouth and still not moving from his spot. "If she fails, she fails. Why do you want to contaminate your experiment with intervention?"

" _If you will not do it, then I will find someone else."_

"I'll do it. I'll have to bring my army though."

" _You should not bring your soldiers. It would be too conspicuous. Saraslha will notice your presence."_

He laughed briefly as he came out of his spot to face Zagara directly. "Do you want the little one's safety insured or not?"

" _...I do."_

"Then it's settled." He walked past Zagara. "I'll set off tonight, a few hours after the little one. And I'm taking my army."

Zagara's psionic voice could be heard groaning in concession. _"Do what you must."_

* * *

"I suppose you're coming with me on the trip, aren't you, Mister Hydralisk?"

The Hydralisk moved across land on a long, snake-like main body. It rose straight in its front half, with a pair of hook claw arms and a gaunt, ornate head section. It had followed Saraslha to the staging area on a lower section of the plateau.

The creature's brain was tiny, and designed to be receptive to psionic commands from a strict selection of other organisms. She had no trouble taking control of it.

"Well, Mister Hydralisk, ya joined me at the boring part." She was talking to the biological killing machine as though it understood language. "I'm waiting for an Overlord to fly by, so as I can take it. It's who'll ship us to Sephulli." She continued talking to herself. "Mom said a light escort, so a handful of Mutalisks wouldn't go amiss."

There was a sizable Zerg structure nearby. She and the hydralisk stood on the creep it maintained over the top surface of the ground. An egg lay next to the structure, among a pool of slithering larvae. It immediately hatched, exploding to free a pair of fully grown, but small creatures; twins. They scampered off on four legs. She sent a mental signal to them, and they stopped, turned, and came over to her.

"You two came out the same egg, and about half a second ago." They stopped next to her, awaiting the next command from their controller. "That makes you newborn twins. I guess... every Zergling has a twin, doesn't it?"

The two zerglings were indifferent. They idled next to her, barely up to her waist in height. One looked off and sniffed the air.

"And I guess that Hatchery is technically your mother." She was looking at the structure where the larvae and egg were pooled. "Ah!' She stopped herself. "Why am I talking to you idiots?" She was looking at the Zerglings now. "You'd probably rather be clawing the shit out of something right now."

A noise was made off to the side. She turned to it. "Nobody asked for your opinion, Mister Hydralisk," she snapped. The Hydralisk met her eyes, but then looked off, oblivious to her talking.

Saraslha picked up a bag from the ground. It was fashioned from the stomach of a large creature, and carried a selection of tools and personal effects which she collected, mostly from the ruins of a massive Terran fortress elsewhere on Char, abandoned years ago. Natural curiosity was a trait facilitated by her expansive brain mass, and one of these curiosities was human science and technology.

The remains of a great number of Terran bases and ships could be found on Char; the aftermath of many invasions and battles. She enjoyed searching these sites for interesting tools, weapons, and knowlege. Most valuable to her was a Command Center, or crashed Battlecruiser with an intact database.

"Gotcha!" She spotted an overlord flying overhead, and locked onto it mentally. Like the Hydralisk and Zerglings, it was a part of Zagara's brood, and she allowed her to take control of them.

Once contacted the first time, it became easier to draw the large flying creature to her, to direct it. "Come on down here, you big bastard."

The Overlord had no wings to speak of. Underneath its broad, stocky body hung an array of long, thin appendages.

It hovered right over Saraslha, and she ordered it to load them. She, the hydralisk, and the two zerglings were picked up by its appendages, and in simple curling motions, they were stuffed into a mouth-like opening.

Inside the Overlord, the sac in which they were deposited was broad and spacious, designed for transport volume. The sac was connected to the creature's lungs, which refreshed the air inside continually and kept it breathable.

Saraslha sat down on crossed legs. The hydralisk and zerglings settled themselves as well, having an instinctive understanding that they were being transported. She waxed her connection to the Overlord's mind. Once her link was strong enough, she could see through its eyes and sense all it could sense for herself. It was in motion, flying a broad circle around the Primary Hive Cluster. The mammoth structure was surrounded by giant tusks which came out of the ground and spired over the main biomass of the colossal Hive. She spotted, through the overlord's eyes, the terrace area on an upper level, where her recent conversation with Zagara took place. She was no longer there.

Saraslha took a breath, and directed the Overlord away from the main Hive Cluster. She saw a flock of Mutalisks, and steered toward them. The flying Mutalisks were faster than the overlord, but she was able to cut them off. Once she was close enough, she sent a psionic signal to all of them at once. It was even easier with an Overlord in her web of connections, whose brain was designed to optimize one's control over other Zerg broods. The Mutalisks altered their flight path and took formation around the Overlord transporting her.

With this single transport and light escort, she steered toward the stars, upward. Zerg were resilient, flexible, and recovered injuries quickly. They withstood the upper atmosphere of the planet. Mutalisks did not need their wings to fly, only to maneuver, add to their speed and remain airborne in high gravity. It was not long before they were in orbit, moving through the vacuum of space as they rose in their orbit over Char. They increased their speed and were propelled away from the planet by the centrifugal force of their fast orbit.

The Overlord could survive in a vacuum, and provide life support to its occupants for up to 40 hours. The Mutalisks were also able to store what they needed from air, and go long periods without breathing.

At first, it was as if there were no gravity inside the Overlord's sac, but as their orbit increased in speed and they moved away from the planet, she was pressed into the ceiling as a form of reverse gravity.

They broke free of Char's gravity without incident. Once this was done, Saraslha had the Overlord generate a small tunnel into warp space. The Mutalisks were not capable of the same, and had to share the Overlord's warp tunnel.

The precise location of star systems were stored as pure data, in the simple-functioning brains of Zerg capable of warp travel. Saraslha needed only access her Overlord's data files via their mental connection, and browse for the star system containing the planet Sephulli. Once she found it, and set it as their destination, the Overlord and Mutalisks entered the warp tunnel.

"I'll do as you will, mother." Saraslha said to herself as she entered warp space. Faster than light, they were propelled toward the Sephulli System.

"Yours is the will of the Swarm."


	2. The Three Landings

 

Sephulli was the only terrestrial planet in its system. It neighbored two gas giants, which were at a more distant orbit from their star.

Saraslha's Overlord, and flock of Mutalisks came out of Warp Space in high orbit of the planet. Zerg were specially attuned to the presence of other life, and Sephulli supported life. This allowed the Overlord's navigation to lock into the exact position of the planet mid-warp. It was an advantage of the Zerg, to go straight to the planet in question, and not require warping into the general system, and then travel to their local destination at sub light speed as Terrans, and even Protoss were stuck with doing. This enabled shock invasions with an element of surprise unique to Zerg.

Saraslha had pulled a tablet-style computer out of her bag. It was connected to the Terran Dominion's FTL internet, and she used it to access all data they had on the planet. The computer produced light of a color not normally seen inside an Overlord's transportation sac. The Hydralisk looked her way out of instinctive alertness.

"Shh," she said to it. "I'm kinda cheating here. Mom doesn't know I have this."

The Hydralisk remained indifferent.

"I'll take that as your lips are sealed, Mister Hydralisk. Good man."

It laid back down, conserving energy and minimizing its air usage while they were being transported in space.

"Let's see…" She skimmed through the data on the planet. It was only one survey report, taken from orbit on account of the renegade Zerg on the surface. "It's hot, and moist. There's a crap-ton of limestone on the high ground, and thick-as-hell flora on the low ground."

The Hydralisk exhaled a bit, passively in its idle resting state.

"Now I know what you're thinking, Mister Hydralisk: How can we take down Renegade Zerg hive clusters dotted about the planet with just us? Well…" She tapped her forehead. "We've got me, and this here noggin. Zerg with big brains control the ones with small brains. It's a pretty accurate consistency to draw."

It shifted a little.

"Now, I can't take control of the hive clusters directly; I'd need voluntary transferal from the brood's original controller, whom is most likely rotting in the ground somewhere. But with some concentration and time, I can get one or two drones, start a new Cluster in a good spot, then we're in business. Any questions, gentlemen?"

She received no rebuttal from the Hydralisk, or the two Zerglings.

"Then it's settled." Saraslha stood up on the wobbly sac containing them. "Overlord, take us down!" She pointed ahead, although there was no visibility to the outside from where she was.

She slipped and landed on her back as the Overlord snapped into motion. It, and the small flock of Mutalisks escorting it crossed through the upper atmosphere and entered into the biosphere of Sephulli.

Saraslha concentrated again, seeing through her Overlord's eyes as it moved through the sky. She observed the landscape of the planet. Giant plateaus surrounded by sheer cliffs, and mist-ridden jungles in the low ground between each risen plateau island.

She sensed Zerg life as far across the planet surface as her mind's eye could reach; Hive Clusters in the jungle canopy, as well as atop the plateaus. The renegade Hive Clusters were set up near sources of Minerals and Vespene Gas: Two sources of energy and nutrition which the Swarm used to fuel its rapid growth, and keep its creatures from quickly going hungry from their fast metabolisms. Terrans and Protoss valued these resources in near-equal measure, and in times of war, the competition over them was fierce.

There was an unoccupied spot atop one of the plateaus which was close to unclaimed Mineral fields and a Vespene geyser. The nearest renegade Hive Cluster on the same elevation of land was a half kilometer away.

Saraslha turned her attention to this renegade Hive Cluster, and locked onto one of its minds. A smaller mind, a simple mind. It resisted her probing; it was only compatible with the mind of its previous controller, and even with the Overlord's help she had difficulty keeping the psionic connection from draining away and snapping. If the previous controller were still alive, it could have broken the connection with minimal effort.

It took time, from inside her Overlord hovering in the sky. The clouds passed by, and perspiration from her Terran essence washed over her tense brow in an attempt to cool it. After nearly an hour of working at it, she had one –just one- brood from the renegade Hive Cluster under her control. She ordered it to head for the vacant spot overland, at the same time directing her Overlord and Mutalisks to the same location.

It was a clearing in the thick, green flora of the planet. Mineral fields; blue, crystalline sediment which came in sizable chunks and protruded from the ground, as well as a geyser which exhaled a green gas; these were the natural resources which made the construction of a settlement sustainable and profitable.

The Overlord reached up into its mouth-like opening while hovering over the clearing. The sac decompressed, and Saraslha, the Hydralisk, and the two Zerglings were grabbed by the creature's appendages, pulled out and then set on the ground.

She stretched on her feet, taking a good breath of fresh planet air outside the Overlord's enclosure of recycled air. It felt nice.

"I don't know about you guys," she said to the Hydralisk and Zerglings. "But that's the first time I took a trip in a puny Overlord, rather than mom's Leviathan."

They idled on the ground where they were set. There was the occasional motion, such as the Hydralisk looking about turning its large head, or the Zerglings sniffing the air, but otherwise they remained vigilant, obedient to any order given to them.

"It just…" She took a few steps out, watching the vegetation around the clearing. "Takes a bit of getting used to…" The vegetation rustled at one spot, and then emerged a new Zerg. It hovered right above the ground, with a body that resembled a manta ray-like wing. Its other main discernable feature was a pair of large, horizontal pincer jaws set far ahead of its small, inconspicuous mouth. No bigger in volume than both the Zerglings put together, it headed straight for them.

"Easy, boys. This one's on our side." It was her mental order not to attack it that kept them from attacking it; her spoken words meant nothing to them. But she liked to talk with her mouth, so she did.

The new Zerg creature stopped near to her, and she bent down a bit to pet it atop its merged head and main body. "Hey there, little guy." She looked up to her three combat broods. "We got ourselves a Drone, people." Her tone was excited.

The drone was directed via her psionic link with it, toward one of the mineral fields. It came up and began chewing on it, working with its strong jaws to separate a chunk from the larger whole. Once it had a piece, it came back to the spot near Saraslha and dropped the blue, gleaming chunk on the ground. "That's good… pile it up here, 'till we have enough."

The vegetation at the edge of the clearing rustled again. She turned to it. Out of the flora came another Drone.

This one was not under her control, and it would require at least another hour to take control of it. "Crap!" She exclaimed. _"Hydralisk, kill it!"_

The Hydralisk snapped into motion. The expanded area in its upper head opened a gap between its center and side plates, which stored razor-sharp throwing blades. It launched them at the targeted Drone, at high velocity and in rapid succession.

Drones were nearly helpless as combatants. The danger was if it escaped and alerted the renegade Zerg. One of the Hydralisk's projectile blades buried into its main body, and it squealed in pain. It turned, and fled back into the foliage.

" _No, hold!"_ The Mutalisks above, and Hydralisk next to her wanted to give chase. They stopped and held their position. Saraslha moved her mental scope to the two Zerglings. _"You two finish it off. Then come right back here."_

The Zerglings scampered across the clearing, and then into the foliage, following the scent of the wounded Drone.

Saraslha released a breath. It had been both a surprising, as well as tense predicament. Zerglings were fast, and could easily run down a Drone. The Hydralisk would have been too slow, and the Mutalisks too conspicuous for hunting it down. It must have followed the Drone she stole without her knowing.

"Heh… perhaps it was its twin." There was a mutation that allowed two Drones to hatch from one egg. She turned to her own drone, and saw that its pile of manageable mineral chunks had grown to three, with a fourth being set down. It had steadily continued work, ignoring the commotion.

Saraslha smiled at this, waiting patiently for the Drone to pile enough minerals. She kept count of the number of chunks, estimating with ballpark figures as to how many would be enough. It was her desire to get a Hive Cluster started as soon as possible.

About five minutes passed, and the two Zerglings returned from the hunt. She saw blood on their upper claws; Drone blood.

The pile became big enough, and she ordered the Drone to morph into a Hatchery. The creature hovered smoothly atop its mineral pile, and began a rapid metamorphosis.

The minerals underneath were wrapped in a wet tissue that enclosed around the bunch with an acidic solution excreted on the inside. They would be dissolved, then converted efficiently into Zerg biomass.

The ground they stood on was covered with thick, healthy vegetation. The Morphed Drone had become a breathing, pulsating lump which settled over the vegetation, rooting into the ground as it steadily grew in size, stretching its thin, transparent, bulging tissue and sometimes changing color.

"This… is the beginning." Saraslha said to herself. This would be the first Hatchery; the first Zerg, to be entirely her own; psionically bound exclusively to her, and not simply borrowed from her mother. "The start of my own brood. My own part of the Zerg Swarm." The Hatchery would be a sizable structure, and require a bit of time to develop, even with the Zerg's efficiency. "I… will be its queen." She looked at her five-fingered hand. "Queen…" She said aloud again. "This brood's salvation or extinction will hinge entirely on me. I am the determiner of its fate. Its director; its leader."

She beamed up at the developing Hatchery embryo. "Every brood has a name. This will be no exception. Upon birth, it will be given one."

The height of the womb reached a towering level, and her gaze followed it. "I am Saraslha, daughter of Overqueen Zagara…" The Hatchery emerged, tearing out of its soft shell fully developed.

"…Queen of the Daedalus Brood."

* * *

Alexei Stukov tapped his binoculars with a hard poke, making it correct its electrically controlled depth adjustment. He was lain prone on a limestone bluff, overlooking Saraslha's clearing from a great distance. "The little one already has a Hatchery going, without having brought her own Drones." He zoomed in on her. "She looks rather happy with herself."

A communicator in his coat pocket vibrated. He rolled onto his back and took it out, holding it in front of his face and pressing answer. "Talk to me, Benjamin."

The person on the other side was an infested Terran who maintained a strict composure. He saluted, standing in front of a stationary monitor. "Base camp is fully deployed on the planet surface, Vice Admiral. Our fortifications are in place."

"And what of the meddler besides us?"

"Broodmother Rindell has also made landing. She brought Drones with her, and already has a fully functioning Hive Cluster."

Stukov laughed lightly at this. "Rindell is an ambitious little fireball. It's no doubt she's here to wipe off Zagara's favorite."

"Shall we destroy her, sir?"

"No, this is good. Give the little one a challenge. We'll stay in the background, and observe."

The infested Terran looked off, then back at Stukov. "What of the Overqueen's orders?"

"Let me worry about Zagara." He got up, and then walked calmly down the rise in the ground, out of eyeshot of Saraslha's clearing. "I'm not on board the idea of coddling the little one. She needs to be tested now and again; taking a risk. We'll jump in if it goes too far, but otherwise this is a good scenario."

Infested Benjamin saluted. "As you say, Vice Admiral."

"Dismissed." They both hung up, and Stukov continued his leisurely, now quiet walk. He was on high, grassy and craggy ground on the end of the plateau overlooking the jungle below. The most audible thing from his location was the wind blowing over the hard edges of limestone.

* * *

Saraslha's Hatchery did not have enough broken down Mineral mass to produce a new drone. The one she'd had previously became the Hatchery, and… She turned to her Hydralisk. "I don't suppose your hook claws can cut up Minerals, can they?"

The Hydralisk slithered over to the mineral fields near the Hatchery. The structure had spread creep over the ground in a wide diameter, covering and consuming the lush, healthy green flora underneath. Zerg were at home on Creep, and moved more quickly over it.

" _No, stop."_ "Idiot."

The Hydralisk stopped, and turned to face her. She was walking up to it. With one hand, she lifted up one of its arms. It let her. "You see these? They're not near hard enough to cut through Mineral chunks." She looked down at the Zerglings, who were sitting in the creep. "That goes for you guys' claws as well. You'd wear down their sharpness and even break them."

She ordered her Overlord to hover over her as she walked toward the mineral chunks. It pulled out a large bag she left inside its transportation sac, and held it in front of her on the end of one of its long appendages. She took it. And then she took out a bulky, heavy mechanism centered on a handle which she gripped in one hand, as well as a framed together cluster of metallic, pressurized tanks connected to the tool via tubes and held in her other hand. Stopping next to one of the large mineral heaps, she turned to face her currently tiny Brood.

"A Drone's pincers are made of a specially dense composite; basically gemstones carved into tool shapes. This makes them super hard, but especially brittle to vibrations and impact. Their pincers are useless for fighting, and they need to settle them onto the Minerals before cutting into it with pure muscle power and serrated edges; no buildup, no momentous strikes." She aimed her hand with the heavy one-handed tool toward her audience. "You guys have claws meant for fighting; somewhat pliable and easier to sharpen. Not easy to break unless you're dumb and think they can cut through Mineral heaps."

"Now!" She turned to the mineral heap and turned on the tool she pulled from her bag. It was a cutting torch, salvaged from a wrecked SCV on Char. The gases from the various tanks mixed, sustaining a narrow, incredibly hot chemical flame. "Since I'm the only one here with thumbs, you all get to watch your queen do a bit of manual labor."

The Mineral heap she picked spiked out in many areas, and it gleamed a beautiful, translucent blue as she cut off one of the extremities with her torch. It went through remarkably fast, and the chunk fell off within ten seconds.

Saraslha bent down, pointing the flame safely away, set the fuel tanks on the ground and picked up the cut off chunk. She threw it underhand toward the Hatchery as far as she could; only halfway. One of the Zerglings ran up to it and circled around it. It pushed the chunk the rest of the way using the top of its head. After rolling it up the Hatchery's mass a bit, the chunk was sucked into one of the requisite large pores.

"Yessss… Mineralsss…" She whispered this under her breath. The sight of a Hatchery consuming minerals tended to give her a giddy feeling. Like something valuable was being harvested and stored for future use; equivalent to saving money. This feeling had literal foundation in truth.

In this way, Saraslha gathered mineral chunks one by one. She kept count, and carried the last one it needed over herself. Once it absorbed into the Hatchery's pore, she slumped, sitting with her back against the structure. She felt a few of its larvae slither out from under her. She gave the mental command, and one of these slithering, millipede-like bugs birthed by the Hatchery morphed rapidly into an egg.

Exhausted, she looked absently at the egg next to her. Bringing her hand on top of it to pat its green outer shell; the fruit of her several minutes of work with a cutting torch. Technically it was a cocoon; a pupal stage of development. But they looked more like eggs, so that's what they were called in spoken language.

It was a brief spurt of time before the egg's shell broke, releasing a fully grown, fresh new Drone which promptly headed over to the mineral heaps and began mining.

Saraslha remained put, relaxing. "Hot day, isn't it Mister Hydralisk?" her spot was in the shade of the Hatchery, and Sephulli, even on high ground, was hot and moist. She looked up at the Hydralisk. "You can come over to the shade, if you like. I don't mind sharing."

The Hydralisk remained put in the direct sunlight.

"Yeah… you don't give a shit, do you?" The Drone deposited a Mineral chunk into a pore next to her, and she sank deeper into relaxation. "It's good to be the queen, I must say."

Enough minerals ingested by the Hatchery, and she had another larva morph into a Drone cocoon. She surveyed the surrounding area through her Overlord's eyes. It had the vantage point of being airborne. She was especially keen on the direction of the nearby renegade cluster.

Four, then eight, then fourteen drones came to mine from the mineral heaps in no amount of time. She also had two additional Overlords made, which she sent out to scout. Saraslha was on her feet now, pacing about and examining the terrain around the Hive Cluster. One Drone was ordered atop the Vespene Geyser, where it morphed into something which entered each hole with a wide tube-like tendril before swelling into a heaping mass, covering the entire geyser. Another Drone became another pulsating lump atop the creep spread by the Hatchery.

The Hydralisk and two Zerglings were sent to idle between the Hatchery and the spot at the treeline that pointed in the direction of the nearby renegade cluster.

Saraslha had experience with this. Many war games; sparring matches but with armies had been played against the Broodmothers on Char. They would each pick a spot, starting with a Hatchery and a token number of Drones. The game would continue until the leader of one side was killed, or made to surrender. Though this time she was up against leaderless renegades, once she attacked one Hive Cluster, they might all end up recognizing her as a threat.

The pulsating lump opened, revealing a Spawning Pool. The one atop the Geyser had become an Extractor, meant to draw on the Vespene Gas from underground and condense it into liquid form. It was then stored in oval-shaped, organically formed bags. She sent a handful of Drones to truck these bags to the Hatchery as they were produced.

The greater the mass of a Zerg brood, the more Minerals would be required to convert into the biomass forming its adult body. Vespene Gas was required for Broods which needed extra energy in the beginning of their life, beyond what their metabolism could provide on its own. A Hydralisk or Mutalisk with no Vespene Gas used in its incubation would immediately wander off to look for food, its survival needs overwhelming even the commands of its controller. They would then die of malnutrition after a brief spurt of time if they did not find enough to eat.

The Spawning Pool was a highly specialized, stationary organism like the Hatchery. Its green liquid, exposed to outside air by design, was the perfect habitat for cultivating microorganisms, which helped broods to maintain their rapid metabolisms, repair physical damage, and resist disease and infection. When Saraslha leaned over the tooth-lined wall and smelled its fumes as the liquid filled up, it felt like she was sniffing pure health. All it required was a small sample size per brood, and then the microorganisms lived, operated, and reproduced independently inside the creature. These microbes were symbionts, of a caliber only the Zerg could produce.

The Creep underneath her feet pulsed with veins and arteries underneath. Via this means, the Spawning Pool exported its microbe-bearing liquid to the Hatchery, which would in turn gift all newly formed eggs with it. With an abundance of Drones and a steady mineral income, she ordered every larva into an egg. Each and all of them would hatch into two Zerglings. Trying to cultivate Zerglings without a Spawning Pool would produce sickly specimens with low stamina. Now that she had one she could make more to supplement the two she brought.

One of the two Overlords she sent out to scout had been spying on the nearby renegade Cluster. She examined it more closely. It was a small affair, with a handful of drones, a single Hatchery with a Spawning Pool and Hydralisk Den. And two Sunken Colonies.

She chuckled at the sight of the Sunken Colonies; stationary Zerg that spread Creep, and drove a pointed tentacle through the ground to attack enemies from below. The main Swarm had long since replaced them with more efficient Spine Crawlers, after having separated the creep-spreading trait to Creep Tumors and not requiring every defensive structure to add an extraneous contribution to the already established Creep spread. These Renegades had to have lost their leader a long time ago.

Still… Her hand wandered down between her legs, imagining the Sunken Colonies shooting their spikes vertically out of the ground. She wasn't quite keen on leading the attack herself.

There were eight eggs atop the Larvae birthed by Saraslha's Hatchery after their formation. They hatched into Sixteen Zerglings which immediately came under her psionic control.

Pain. The Overlord spying on the enemy Cluster was spotted by one of its handful of Hydralisks, and it had primed its upper head and fired razors at it. They buried into the creature's soft flesh, and it turned and flew away out of instinct.

Saraslha ordered the sixteen newly hatched Zerglings out into the Jungle thicket, and the Overlord to adjust its course. The Renegade Hydralisk followed it, taking a shot with its long range attack whenever it could. Two more renegade Hydralisks joined the hunt.

The Overlord was slowly, surely brought to death by a thousand cuts as the relentless Hydralisks continued pursuing it through the thick flora, and continued taking shots through the upper canopy. Its flight failed it, and it crashed through the tree limbs, landing atop the thick vegetation on the ground.

The three Hydralisks swarmed around it, cutting it up with their claw arms and eating off it. Saraslha sensed its pain and its death.

And her face became a stone-hard glare.

Her sixteen new Zerglings had slowly, stealthily surrounded the scene, moving rapidly under cover of the thick vegetation. They shot out of cover and rushed the three Hydralisks from behind. The Zerglings at close range jumped onto them. The ones at medium range leaned up extending out their fifth and sixth upper limbs, getting their long claws past their mark and then jerking back, putting all their weight behind ripping their target open.

The Hydralisks were bigger than the Zerglings, and inevitably had more muscle mass. They were able to throw their assailants off of themselves, and fight back with their clawed arms. But the Zerglings outnumbered them sixteen to three.

It was over in seconds. The Hydralisks were pulled down onto the ground through joint effort, and then mauled to death by the small, energetic, numerous killing machines.

The Overlord was dead. A new egg had formed next to Saraslha's Hatchery which would become its replacement. She looked up at her flock of Mutalisks. _"Go,"_ She ordered. The Mutalisks, and the two original Zerglings headed out.

" _Not you, Mister Hydralisk."_ Two Drones from her now huge staff of them went out near the outer circle of the Creep spread and formed into two lumps which would become Spine Crawlers. _"You stay here with me. We guard the Hive Cluster."_

She had enough resources. All of the Larvae the Hatchery made in the interim were made into more Zergling eggs. Another Drone was ordered to morph into a Roach Warren; another stationary creature that supplied the necessary fibers and nutrients to cultivate Roaches, with all their specialized traits and functions. Roaches were medium range, acid-spitting combatants that could absorb elements from soil to quickly regenerate wounds.

Saraslha shifted focus to micromanaging her attack force. The Zerglings waited out of range for the Mutalisks to kill the feral Cluster's Sunken Colonies from the safety of being airborne, launching razor-sharp projectiles designed to ricochet. Once they were dead, the Zerglings moved in and they killed the remaining defenders. Both groups proceeded upon its now defenseless Hatchery and Drones.

"My Brood will grow and spread." She said aloud. "It will take this Plateau, then the surrounding area below, and eventually the entire planet!"

And then she remembered; her control limit. Even with Overlords, she could only control so many broods at once…

The anger at this limitation made her wheel around to face the cliff edge near her Hive Cluster. She raised her hand and fired a psi energy bolt. It was narrow and weak, and did not go far.

"Why?" She was bent over now, her hand gripping around her forehead. The scalp of her head had psionic cords growing out of it, of the same that would be found on a Broodmother. But they were short and stubby, barely covering her scalp, and refused to grow past that certain length.

"Why, mother? Why would you make me weak on purpose?" She squeezed harder, but then had to take her hand off because it hurt her skull. She looked at her hand again. Her human-like hand.

* * *

Stukov's army was comprised entirely of infested Terrans. The Broodmothers of the Swarm did not know what to do with these irregular combatants, and ended up using Stukov's irregular swarm as a dumping ground for them. He accepted these misfits, and was able to organize them into a proper outfit. His base was nigh identical to any other Terran base, but for the obvious marks of infestation on its structures and personnel. Given this, the infestation did not interfere with any functionalities of the rugged human technology.

"I'll give it to you, Benjamin. You picked a good spot for our base camp." Stukov said this to his Lieutenant.

"Thank you, Vice Admiral." He replied. They were walking together within the infested Terran base. It was set on high ground, at the foot of the plateau Saraslha had landed on. "Though I am concerned regarding its proximity to the Princess."

Stukov nodded at this. "Once the little one starts expanding down here, we'll have to lift all our structures, and migrate away so she doesn't find us."

"We have a more pressing matter in the meantime." Benjamin said. They stopped at the base entrance, where a pair of bunkers had been constructed. "Perimeter scans have detected thousands of kilograms of Zerg biomass grouped nearby. They are building up for an attack."

"Mm, I can sense them." He looked off with his aura-concealed eyes. "They're organized. Do you think it's Broodmother Rindell?"

Infested Benjamin shook his head. "Rindell's Hive Cluster is twenty five clicks away. Even if she built a force this size already, she would not send it past the Princess and after us."

"Your reasoning is sound, Benjamin. But it leaves the question: who's organizing these ones?"

"I want to deal with our immediate threat. Then focus on intelligence gathering." A newly built Siege Tank came from the section of the base with a pair of factories. It stopped at a spot well behind the bunkers, and transformed into a stationary artillery gun, aiming its main cannon into an upward arc and laying down stabilizing feet.

"I leave the defense of this base to you, Benjamin." Stukov said. "I'll head out on my own to do the intelligence gathering."

"By dealing with this Zerg force, we will be indirectly assisting the Princess." Benjamin said, frowning. "It may be seen as a breach of our orders."

"Don't worry about it." Stukov was genuinely curious as to what was controlling these particular Zerg, and wanted to find the source for himself. He headed back into the base, leaving the Infested Lieutenant Benjamin to his duties.

The base was an oval formation of structures surrounding a wide, clear center area. He went to the section with the pair of factories. A circle of infested Terrans were seated at an unfolded round table, behind a row of ten Vulture bikes leaning on their kick stands. They were playing Texas Hold 'em.

The infested people looked Stukov's way as he approached. He stopped next to their table. They looked tense. "Not to worry. None of you are in trouble." None of them spoke. "I need to borrow one of your bikes."

One of them reached into a back pocket with stiff, inarticulate motions. He pulled out a ring of dangling keys and passed them to Stukov, who caught them naturally.

"Much appreciated." He turned to the row of Vultures.

"Far… Right…" The infested Terran said with vocal cords he had difficulty using.

He went to the far right Vulture, and hopped on it. With the keys in, he flipped up the kick stand and primed its two turbine thrusters. He looked back at their table. "I'll try to bring it back in one piece." The thrusters tried to propel the bike forward. Even on idle, they had a kick. He held it in place with his feet on the ground and holding onto the yoke.

The infested man saluted stiffly. "For… the Swarm."

"For the Swarm." He saluted as well as he sat and lifted his feet off the ground. He accelerated into the base center, and then leaned and made a tight turn toward the base entrance before heading out past the bunkers at full throttle.

* * *

Saraslha was able to produce a sizable force in a very brief period of time. Once this was done, she directed them to the Renegade Hive Clusters on the plateau, killing the lightly defended settlements one by one and replacing them with her own Hatcheries.

She was furious at the feral Zerg, and could not get the image of the dead Overlord out of her head. The memory of sensing its pain and the end of its life. It made her want to kill all of them; to wipe them out. The Overlord's pragmatic expendability; it being an acceptable loss, meant nothing. The Overlord was her faithful servant, and they killed it.

Without a higher intelligence, the feral Zerg were dumb animals. Dumb animals that posed a threat to her broods; her useful and productive broods to whom she had given a purpose. The Feral Zerg had no purpose, but they posed a threat to those who did, and would kill them if given the chance. This mindset made her happy to see their Hive Clusters ripped apart and burned with Roach acid. To see their stragglers hunted down and killed. Her Daedalus Brood was ridding the planet of a blight, which would hinder the march of life no longer.

Her main Hive Cluster had grown considerably. A bigger, more advanced Hatchery, and more specialized, stationary broods which supplied unique biomasses. Her selection of combat broods had increased.

Saraslha was seated inside one of her Overlords. She had around twenty of them now, and they patrolled over her territory in even and interchangeable patterns. The one she occupied was no exception; a method of protecting herself. There was no way for an outsider to know which of the near-identical flying creatures contained her.

It did not take long. Her brood took over the entire plateau, occupying every area on the elevated piece of land that had a decent number of resources. The ground at her first Hatchery had become uneven and overturned; the minerals on the surface were harvested completely, and her Drones were getting at deposits they could find underground. They'd dug a deep trench around the Creep circle in their search for more minerals.

Each separated Hive Cluster was being connected, gradually, by a webwork of underground arteries. In this way, each separate cell could share resources and specialized biomass. Saraslha also had a Nydus network made, its central hub located at the main Cluster.

And then something odd. One of the patrolling Overlords wandered in range of another psionic presence. She had it stay in place, so as not to lose the signal. And then, like a psionic relay station, she waxed her telepathic reach through it.

She heard a voice; another mind: _"Who goes there?"_

Saraslha somewhat recognized the voice. It sounded like a Broodmother. But that's impossible, she thought. A renegade swarm this old would not have free-thinking Swarm Queens. _"My name is Saraslha, Queen of the Daedalus Brood."_ She said to the source of the voice. _"I'm afraid this planet belongs to me now. I must politely suggest you skip town. If you don't, I cannot guarantee your safety."_

" _You are in a position to guarantee nothing, little princess. Least of all claim a world."_

Now she knew who it was. The manner of speaking was unmistakable. _"Rindell!"_ Her psionic voice exclaimed. _"You cheeky son of a bitch. What are you doing out here?"_

" _It is I who claims this world, and I whom cannot guarantee your safety, should you fail to take your leave promptly."_

Saraslha knew Broodmother Rindell from a Zerg world close to Dominion space, frequently visited by Zagara and by Saraslha accompanying her. Rindell was a younger queen, subordinate to the senior Broodmother who controlled the planet. The two had a war game every visit.

Saraslha jerked leaning forward involuntarily, in the physical space of the Overlord she rode inside. _"I'm not going anywhere you cocky piece of ass."_ Everything about Rindell pissed her off. She never bothered to learn why. _"What's your plan, here? You know you can't beat me."_

" _We're not playing with limits here, little princess. These are the big leagues. My control is ultimately larger than yours."_

It just occurred to Saraslha that their connection was going through a single Overlord in range as a relay. It heard all of their bickering back and forth. She chuckled at the idea of it understanding their speech and putting up with it.

" _Oh look at you,"_ she said to Rindell. _"Talking some big shit like she has experience."_

There was a pause. She sensed Rindell, but Rindell waited before speaking. _"Typical Terran smack talk. Nothing more ought be expected, from Zagara's little snowflake."_

Saraslha calmed, her demeanor became reserved, and it became livid. _"When I'm done with you, Rindell, you're going to wish you were in hell, with your back broke."_ It was obvious the reason she was here. And Saraslha was going to do, what the Zerg typically do, to beings that get in their way.

She cut the connection, and re-oriented her mind's eye to her Swarm. It had grown much from the initial Hatchery, and dotted the plateau with a web of Hive Clusters.

"I know what she's going to do, Mister Hydralisk."

The Hydralisk was in there with her. She'd kept it close for the hell of it, in spite of now having made more of them in her buildup of combat broods. It was laying there, looking bored.

"She's going to overwhelm me with sheer numbers, since her control can get bigger than mine. I'm going to assume she's had to kill feral hives the same as me, in order to expand."

The Hydralisk shifted a little.

"But not to worry!" She stood up, raising an index finger in a commanding, childish gesture. "Rindell is Rindell, and I…" she twitched. "I really don't like her."

The Hydralisk clicked a bit, from an abrupt inhale; a yawn.

"Yes, I agree." She said, sitting back down. "Rindell is indeed a sucky person. Just…" Her head shook rapidly. "So sucky."


	3. Scorched Earth

Alexei Stukov raced through the thick flora on his borrowed Vulture. He neared the Zerg force gathering for an attack on his base. They heard his loud vehicle and noticed him. As he circled them from a good distance, he pulled his sidearm and took a shot. The heavy-caliber bullet found its way to the head of a Zergling, puncturing into its brain and killing it.

One dead Zergling was nothing to a Zerg army. But they smelled the blood, sensed its death, and subsequently they recognized him as a threat. A large portion of them gave chase. Their Hydralisks primed their upper heads and fired blades at him.

Alexei ducked as he turned away from the Zerg, still moving at high speed. Nonetheless, Hydralisks had predictive aiming ability on par with a computer. A blade hit and dug itself into his arm, and another into his side. Three of them buried into the metallic construction of his Vulture.

The bike was swift, and once he turned it away it was a simple matter to outrun even their fastest-running broods. He'd poked the Zerg force, and now a chunk of them would be allocated away from the attack on his base to hunt him down. He emerged out of the jungle to an expanse of lifeless dirt and stone terrain. There were cracks in the ground, and the smell of sulfur became prevalent. A large limestone plateau was visible in the distance, along with another even further away; the planet was covered with them.

He freed a hand off the yoke, and reached over to pull the Hydralisk blades out of his arm and side. He barely bled, even when removing them. And once they were out of the way, his wounds regenerated quickly.

"Now… to find whatever is controlling them." He said aloud as he stayed on course, speeding along the uneven, open ground.

* * *

Saraslha was seated on her knees next to a large, flat elevation of limestone serving as a table. It was next to her main Hive Cluster, whose creep was spread under her sitting spot and over the stone. An empty Vespene Gas bag sat on the table, produced by one of the Extractors by manual request. Through its opening normally meant for filling it with Vespene, she drippled a large number of puny, bug-sized Zerg. She'd spun the sequences for the tiny bugs manually, and without much care, simply copying most of the essence from a tiny bug indigenous to Sephulli, and which annoyed her by trying to fly into her eyes and orifices.

Once the stiff bag was a quarter full of the tiny bugs, she laid the ovular container on its side and picked up the end of a hose. The hose was for the chemical tanks, now detached from their cutting torch. She capped the end on the opening pore, and opened the master valve, causing it to eject its chemical mix into the Vespene bag full of tiny bugs.

Vespene bags had a special property. In order to be filled with condensed gas without any impurities, it was able to filter out all air particles found in the local atmosphere while keeping the gas inside. This was done on the cellular level, and spread throughout its entire tissue not covered by its veiny framework. It took only the slightest of tweaks to make it think of the flammable chemical mix as Vespene Gas, and let it collect inside while the common air particles exited.

Once the chemical mix was nearly the entire atmosphere inside the bag, she shut the main valve on the tanks, and gave the mental command for the bag to shut its orifice.

" _My Queen, there is something I believe you need to know."_

Saraslha got on her feet, and turned. The voice came from a small, young Swarm Queen. They were kilometers apart, and their communication telepathic. _"Listen, I know you were only born a few hours ago,"_ she said to it. _"But I need you to run things while I'm working. Expand the brood to that other plateau you're at; ignore the low ground. And try not to botch things."_

" _That is why I come to you, my Queen. I have had a run-in with Broodmother Rindell's forces. A minor skirmish, but your territory and hers are beginning to border."_

This was inevitable. Rindell had landed a fair distance away, but sooner or later their mutually expanding broods would meet. Going back to Char and snitching to her mother about it was the last thing she wanted to do; thinking about it made her stomach churn. _"I promised the Overqueen that I'd leave no Zerg alive on this planet, and that's what I intend to do."_

" _What would you have me do?"_ The young, simpleminded being asked.

_Take the rest of the high ground you're at, and then stop there. Be defensive. If attacked, you are not to counterattack."_

" _But what if I see an opening; a chance to strike?"_

It occurred to Saraslha that her orders appeared irrational. No attacking under any circumstance was a collective judgement of every scenario her officer could possibly end up in, and would inevitably result in grievous error. She looked back, at her experiment. Thousands of small bugs were being killed by the gases inside the Vespene container. She did this… because she needed one of them –just one- to survive, and resist the substances forced on them. " _Be it as it may, you will not assault Rindell's brood unless I give you the go ahead."_

"I-"

" _Now, I understand it is inconvenient. You've got enthusiasm; I can always appreciate that. But there's a plan, and I need you to follow the plan."_

" _Understood, my Queen."_

"Perfect!" She said in a chipper tone as she mentally hung up, and returned to her experiment. Saraslha could sense the fading life force of each individual bug in the container. By having converted them into Zerg broods, the rate of the project could be accelerated. She could reproduce them to the next generation in minutes. Saraslha combed her senses through each now limp bug body, looking for one survivor, just one sign of life. "I'm really sorry I did this to you poor fellows." She was talking to the dead bugs. "But I can assure you it's for the greater good… well," she stopped herself. "My greater good, at least."

And she found one survivor. She combed a bit more, and found three, out of the thousands of dead bugs. There were three who survived the gases. Saraslha took their essence.

The next batch of bugs all had the gas-resisting qualities of the three survivors, their essence having been copied and replicated. In the second test, they all survived. She sensed their mutations; the blind, extreme attempts by each individual bug to come closer to a favorable state of living. Nearly all of these mutations failed. A tiny handful of them succeeded, enhancing the organism's resistance to the gases.

The next batch would have these successful mutations. These bug batches costed a fraction of a single Zergling in minerals to incubate, given their miniscule mass. She could keep going.

* * *

Broodmother Rindell's control capacity was much higher than that of Saraslha. This was an advantage she'd always been denied in their war games. To keep such matches from getting out of hand, a strict overall population cap was enforced on both sides, and Saraslha was never forced beyond her limit.

" _But not here. Not in the real world."_ She spoke inside her own mind. Rindell never won a single match against Saraslha. And when she tried to settle the matter in a duel, Saraslha would always say no, keep out of harm's way and defeat her with broods. Rindell would always be forced to declare submission; her surrender, in order to keep her life. Rindell wanted nothing more than to fight the frail creature fairly. Power against power.

" _And now, I will have that."_ There was nobody to regulate them on this distant planet. She could expand her brood with no limits. Exert her superior control capacity, and crush Saraslha.

" _I will have back my dignity."_ All of the times she'd been forced to declare submission. Humiliating defeat after humiliating defeat. Now, it was her time. Now she would get back what she lost.

" _Saraslha, you are a fluke. Any power you hold is borrowed from the Swarm. And it will not be enough to save you now."_ She found it incomprehensible that Overqueen Zagara would create something like Saraslha, and then place it up as her incumbent heir. Zagara was the Queen of Blades' second; number two to the most revered being in the Zerg conscious. She had the respect of all the Swarm. But this… frail creation was a mistake.

" _And I… am going to correct that mistake."_ Sephulli was rich with resources and life. Rindell's brood had occupied a massive chunk of territory, spreading and multiplying. She could not see Saraslha's entire brood, but she estimated that once their armies confronted, Rindell would outnumber Saraslha three to one.

* * *

Essence from the Vespene Extractor; its ability to condense a gaseous particle into liquid form, and keep it that way inside a sturdy container would be important for what she had in mind.

Saraslha had various essences laid on her rock/creep table, contained inside gelatinous blobs which were of a similar composition to a Spawning Pool's liquid. These blobs kept the samples healthy and alive while being examined and operated on. If Terran medical science had something that did something similar for humans, they would be able to immerse a patient in it and perform surgeries previously considered impossible for the patient to live through. But as it stood, the Dominion's progress in biological fields was lacking. The Queen of Blades was once kept alive by this means after being badly wounded. The torrent of symbiotic microbes kept her systems running while patiently repairing the damage.

She had to keep focused on the task at hand. There had long been Zerg capable of storing, replenishing and delivering deadly acids on their enemy. The question her creative mind brought to this was: Why does it always need to be acid?

She'd worked out the design of the main body. It would have to be dense, and a bit stocky and sluggish. Its rapid Zerg metabolism would enable it to move quickly with excellent stamina, but its large amount of mass would inevitably heighten its cost.

Its main weapon would require certain compounds, of which it would have a finite supply. Easily the most difficult part of development was conceiving a means by which it could synthesize the compounds for itself, even if gradually over time. Saraslha had her tablet out, browsing the Dominion's FTL internet. She was looking through a Chemistry for dummies website, and cross-referencing its information with chemical reactions which a Zerg organism might be able to produce independently.

She carefully picked two gelatinous blobs on her rock, and merged them into one. The two small Zerg inside met, and fought. One absorbed the others' essence and became bigger, more detailed. After adding more, tiny experimental organisms to its blob and letting the bigger creature absorb them, she reached her hand inside and pulled it out. It struggled, still tiny compared to her. Its little clippers snapped at the air and its tail-like rear body wriggled and swayed.

She hung the rear body of the lobster-like creature over a clear spot on her workspace. There was a rear orifice at the tip of its rear body, which slowly gathered a droplet of liquid before dripping it. She patiently let it excrete a few more droplets of this liquid. There were processes inside the organism, producing a variety of chemicals in the tiniest quantity each, all merging to the droplet which landed on the clear spot of her table.

Satisfied, she stuffed the creature back into its green blob. It swam around inside, evidently relieved. She then took a simple metal tool; the igniter for her cutting torch.

She struck it over the tiny pool of liquid, causing it to be showered in sparks. The result was an eruption of heat and fire. The blue flame made her face feel cooked, and she backed away out of impulse. It lasted less than a second, but it rose at least twenty centimeters, and was literally hot as hell. The creep on that spot, and several centimeters into the limestone had been burned through. Saraslha grinned. Her project was a success, and now it was only a matter of putting the pieces together.

" _My Queen, Rindell's attacks have intensified. She is committing to an assault on the second plateau."_ The voice came from another of her hastily made lieutenant minds. Senior Broodmothers would create them and put them in charge of certain areas when operations expanded to the point that the need to delegate became apparent. A general cannot run an army on their own; they need officers.

Saraslha knew the gravity of this report. While she was occupying herself with tinkering, Rindell was expanding and invading her territory. Saraslha's broods had taken a second plateau further ahead, not settling anything on the low ground.

The fact that Rindell had committed to the attack meant she would not stop until the second plateau was taken, or her numbers were exhausted. And Rindell's numbers were superior. They would not exhaust before Saraslha's. She was going to lose the second Plateau, and then the one with her main Hive Cluster. It was only a matter of time.

But Saraslha had a card to play. A card she had just created, and which was now ready to implement. _"Pull out."_ She said to her officer. _"I want you to abandon the second plateau. Break out of their encirclement and get back here with all the forces you can."_

" _Are you certain of this?"_ The Swarm Queen on the second plateau was skeptical. _"We are on defensible high ground right now. It seems foolish to abandon such a strong position."_

" _I know. Do it anyway."_ Saraslha said.

Another of her lieutenant minds interjected, _"My Queen, might I suggest a sky bridge of Overlords for pulling our forces out of the Second Plateau? They would be difficult for the enemy to shoot down from the low ground."_

Saraslha thought of this as a good idea, but it posed a risk of giving away her plan. She had to appear desperate to Rindell, not in control. _"I'm afraid that's a no can do. You need to break out overland. Cross the low ground and fight through Rindell's forces."_

" _Might I at least break out in the direction of her Hive Clusters, my Queen? I can catch her by surprise and—"_

" _Listen people."_ Saraslha said casually to all of them. _"I'm loving the energy here. But Rindell is a competent tactician. What we're sensing is not her entire force. She has even more in reserve."_

" _So if I assault her Hive Cluster…"_

" _Bingo. You'll meet those reserves, and then she pulls back forces from the field to encircle your ass."_

" _She outnumbers us three to one. How do you plan to win, if you will not take the initiative?"_

These several hours old Swarm Queens were born with inherent knowledge. Each and all of their minds had a basic understanding of military tactics. _"You all understand compartmentalization, don't you?"_

" _Yes,"_

" _Of course."_

" _Certainly."_ They all said.

" _Well, I know something you all don't. I need you to follow my orders, and not understand them."_

Their psionic voices became content. She logged off on this note, and her attention went back to her physical location. She was at her main Hive Cluster. It had grown considerably from when it first started. Her first Hatchery was now a Hive; the final form of the stationary creature's three-phase development.

Saraslha sensed it was full of resources. A giant vacuole underground stored a vast reserve of broken down Minerals and condensed Vespene Gas. However, she was kept from making a larger army by her psi limit. The broods she had were all she could control at a given time. It didn't matter how rich she was; Rindell was going to crush her.

She sensed her Lieutenant mind on the second plateau. She was pulling all of the broods there into a single force, and heading out to break Rindell's encirclement. Her other two officers were elsewhere on the main Hive Cluster's plateau, where all of her reserves were kept. These reserves, and the away force on the second Plateau comprised Saraslha's entire Daedelus Brood.

One of her Drones came out next to the creep near her workspace. The essence had been spun and completed, and she had the Drone morph into a lump. As the breathing lump formed, she infused it with the new essence. It would become something new; something no Zerg had ever been. The stationary creature which this Drone would morph into would produce specialized biomass, and provide it to Saraslha's massive Hive, as well as her network of Hive Clusters.

"This… is it." She said aloud with her vocals. Not to any of her broods now. "This is what they call… serious ground? The chips being down?" Everything would hinge on what happened in the next couple of hours.

Saraslha would not run. She had no doubt that Rindell would kill her if given the chance. But she would not run. The thought of returning… without a Leviathan, without completing her task. The thought of her mother sighing, and shaking her head in disappointment. This thought terrified her.

Saraslha stared into the ground. Stared into the creep of her main Hive Cluster. "I'm… afraid," she said to herself. She was also alone. "I've never… never…" Never had a challenge like this.

Her claws buried into her hand as her fist clenched, and her face became stone, stoic, serious. "Watch me, mother." She calmed, but also became more tense; more focused. "I'm going to overcome this. I'm going to show you what I'm capable of."

* * *

The two Zerg armies clashed in the low ground between Plateaus. In the thick flora of Sephulli, the green became awash in blood. Projectiles in the form of spine blades and acid flew in both directions.

There was no relent, no ebb and flow. The Zerg on either side were at a constant state of rapid motion and ruthless, furious, efficient killing.

The titanic Ultralisks unleashed tremors in their step, and cut through smaller broods with their massive, sharpened tusks. They were high-priority targets. Bladed projectiles, acid and small, bold melee broods rained down on each individual in abundance. Their carapace was dense, and thick, and could take the punishment.

The small Zerglings with short attack reach were great in number, great in speed and great in ferocity. They were the flimsy, killable champions of the Swarm. Always an asset no matter how great their loss of life. They fought and killed and died for the Swarm.

Hydralisks were the Professionals. Ranged attacks with accuracy from a safe distance. A more filled out size. Their reach, versatility and abundant number made them mainstays.

One Swarm had pressed into the mass of the other. They concentrated in the center, and tried to push through; to breach their horde.

But more of their number flooded in from either end of the low ground pass. Their reinforcements seemed endless, and they closed an encirclement around the force trying to break out. Its commander was a young Swarm Queen, ordered to break out of the encirclement via land assault. Her head was lopped off by the powerful, inward swing of an Ultralisk's tusks.

The attacking force was completely encircled. And after a long 7 minutes of pitched battle, it was eliminated. The Hive Clusters they'd abandoned on the Second Plateau met the same fate.

* * *

Broodmother Rindell was immensely pleased. She observed this attempted breakout, and saw their effort crushed under her stream of reinforcements. The Second Plateau was taken, and all that remained of Saraslha's brood was her primary elevation of land, wherein lied her main Hive Cluster. Saraslha had made a wise decision to camp entirely on high ground, but this had to be an act of panic. There was no worming out of her fate. They possessed the same variety of broods, and Rindell had the greater number.

There was no way Saraslha could replenish her numbers in time for Rindell's final assault. It would come swiftly. And it would come without mercy.

" _Princess Saraslha."_ Rindell processed this word and the name with the utmost spite in her tone. _"Now, Nature will be allowed to take its natural course. A deliberately obsolete creature like you has no place among the Swarm."_

* * *

"Broodmother Rindell…" Saraslha said this aloud. Her tone was piteous; regretful. "I wish there was a place for everybody in the Swarm. I wish all life could have the hope and opportunity I feel that I have. But…"

She looked ahead, her gaze leveled. The attempted breakout by her broods happened in view of her main Hive Cluster. Down a steep part of the incline surrounding her final bastion of high ground. She saw the whole thing personally. "An animal like you, has no place in my Swarm." All of the slain broods were her loyal servants. And now they were gone. This sparked fury in her; sparked her anger, her desire to kill.

Every Drone on resource-gathering duty, from every Hive Cluster on her Plateau was ordered out to the Creep along the ledge, and atop the steep incline in the land all around the broad perimeter of her plateau. Here, every one of them morphed into a pulsating lump. They drew from the network of arteries; from her vast reserves of resources.

In addition, every larva at every Hive Cluster was ordered into an egg.

Her resource reserves were taxed heavily, but there was enough. Rindell's Brood wasted no time gathering their already amassed force from the battlefield in the low ground, and heading up to Saraslha's final bastion.

All along the perimeter atop the plateau, the thickly arranged line of lumps continued to pulsate; continued to develop. Rindell's brood rose halfway up the steep incline. Saraslha did not even send her reserves to try and delay them.

Saraslha felt it. The new lumps were about to emerge, fully developed. She sent her mental focus to one of her Overlords. And then made sure what she had to say reached Rindell: _"Checkmate, in three."_

Rindell did not reply to this. But Saraslha knew she heard it, and sensed the sudden onslaught of apprehension in her mind. In every one of their war games, she said this to her, right before setting off a cascade of events that led to her victory and Rindell's defeat. The assaulting broods continued up to the Plateau.

And the dozens of lumps emerged, their forms fully developed. _"First move after call."_

They looked like Spore Crawlers; the anti-aircraft counterparts to Spine Crawlers. But they were roughly twice the mass. The spore section was atop a large, bulky base above ground.

They fired a peculiar liquid in a steady, high-pressure jet. It was fired in an arc, down onto the plateau's incline, and showered large swaths of Rindell's assault force while it flowed downhill. These sprayers distributed their output evenly like a directed fire hose, covering the entire perimeter of the section of the Plateau which Rindell's assault came up.

Saraslha waited. Just a few more halves of a second…

Fire. An ignition, delayed by design. Every single surface, living or otherwise touched by this liquid was consumed by a blue flame that burned hot enough to melt steel, and even eat through the solid sediment comprising the Plateau underneath its topsoil. Saraslha had christened them Fire Fountains.

The Fire Fountains did not let up with their callous, constant delivery of this deadly napalm. They drew on Saraslha's Vespene Gas reserves, not as a conversion material but as an energy source; as long as her network provided them with Gas, these creatures could keep their production glands in overdrive, producing the chemicals comprising their mix as fast as their delivery system could hose it out.

The assaulting Zerg were killed in swaths. They could not pass where it fell on the ground and erupted into a flame barrier. They were tightly packed in their push up the incline. There was nowhere to hide, and no protection from this searing hot death from above. Saraslha had built dozens of the Fountains, and their cumulative firepower was enough to drown the assault force. Their Ultralisks were resilient, and survived longer than any of the other assaulting Brood. But when they were the only creatures to remain, the Fire Fountains focused on them, fueling the blue chemical flame on the massive creatures with a constant jet.

It did not matter that the Zerg were tolerant of extreme heat, or had acid-resistant carapaces. The chemical mixture burned beyond anything nature could produce on its own. It was such a high temperature as to disintegrate their biomass.

The entire incline up to the Plateau was charred black. Only a token amount of Rindell's tightly packed assault survived. Saraslha watched this personally as well, from a ledge angled in that direction, near her main Hive Cluster. She saw the hundreds of dead Zerg up, down and along the steep incline. The only ones to survive were at the far rear, or the broad edges of their formation. They had the opportunity to flee, and wisely did so.

Two formations of feet had approached behind her while she observed the smoking black landscape and equally black corpses of Rindell's disintegrated assault. She turned, and saw her remaining two officers. The semi-intelligent Swarm Queens she'd kept in reserve. "It's fine, you can say what you think." She said to them.

" _I had thought it was the beginning of the end, when Bri'kar's breakout failed."_

" _My Queen, Rindell is vulnerable. Send me to attack with everything we have."_

"Bri'kar's sacrifice will not be in vain. Believe me." Saraslha turned back to the charred black incline; the clouds of smoke. "You two are ready to finish this?"

" _I would think that it is finished."_

She shook her head. "Remember what I said about Rindell's reserves. That was only a third of her brood, at most. And the Fire Fountains won't be as effective now that the element of surprise is expended."

" _What is your command?"_

She turned back to them, then looked past them, at her Hive. At the eggs near it, now close to hatching. All of the eggs on all her remaining Hive Clusters were ready to hatch. And they were all the same thing.

* * *

Broodmother Rindell had been startled by Saraslha's chess call; the call she gave when she was certain of victory. And then Rindell was mortified by what Saraslha's new weapon did to her assault force. More than a third of her brood had been concentrated; packed together in that uphill assault on Saraslha's final stronghold.

Rindell stood near her main Hive Cluster; its Hive, surrounded by two Lairs and other stationary Zerg organisms. Her reserves were with her, the rest of her force was on the Second Plateau, and she still had a significant number advantage over Saraslha. Her cluster was situated at the foot of one of the planet's many limestone plateaus. Concealed under the jungle canopy.

It took her several minutes to come to grips with what happened. The Fire Fountains were not invincible; they had simply been the perfect thing to use at the perfect time in that perfect situation. They would be helpless against flying Zerg so long as they didn't come too low, and ineffective against an attack by widely spaced units.

" _I will admit that you are pretty clever."_ Rindell said aloud. _"But this changes nothing."_ She was already beginning to replenish her losses. _"The Swarm is numberless for me. And for you, it is but a passing blessing. You lack true power."_ Saraslha's tactical victory meant nothing. It did not change her control limit, did not change her frailty. _"And it does not change the nature of the Swarm."_

" _I'm going to lead the Swarm, Rindell. And be a hell of a lot more qualified than you."_

" _How are you in range of me?"_ Rindell said to Saraslha's voice.

" _Take a guess, genius."_

" _You've actually crawled out of your hole?"_

" _I'm coming to cook you and eat you up."_

Rindell was defiant at this. _"My broods need only kill one of your new toys to steal its essence and allow me to copy them. Your advantage will be short-lived."_

" _I've made my second move after call."_

" _Don't try to scare me with your metaphors. This is real life, not one of your gentlemanly war games."_

" _As Queen of the Daedalus Brood, and custodian of this planet appointed by the Overqueen herself, I hereby deem you, and your brood a disruption. Surrender, Rindell."_

She couldn't help but to laugh at this. _"You're acting quite arrogant. All the better for me, that your one victory goes to your head."_

There were broken, smoldering bubbles of rage in Saraslha's tone, _"You killed my people, you sucky, sucky piece of ass."_

" _What are you babbling about? Killing mindless animals is not something a thinking being has compunctions about."_

" _Yes…"_ A brief, half-second laugh from her psionic voice. _"You're correct about that."_

A dripping noise. Something wet splashed on Rindell's diadem-shaped head, and dribbled a bit down on her chest. It smelled foul.

She looked up. A giant leaf in the canopy above. It was shaped like a giant bowl, meant to catch rain. It was overflowing. The foul-smelling liquid had dripped from this leaf. _"What is the meaning of this..?"_

" _Third move, and checkmate."_

Instantly, the leaf disintegrated to black dust, revealing what was now a blue fireball. Without the leaf, it fell with gravity, down on Rindell.

Realizing the danger she was in, she ran ahead as fast as her formation of legs could go. Only the liquid on the outside of the blob burned as it fell. When it hit the creep, it splashed and spread.

The little bit that got on her diadem and chest erupted into blue flame as well. It destroyed her carapace on those spots, and the pain was unspeakable. The distraction messed up her frantic run, and the burning liquid distributed, spreading under her formation of legs. The uprising flame shot into her lower body. It didn't take more than a second for the unnaturally intense heat to reach the central hub of tendons for her legs, damaging them and causing her to go limp.

" _No!"_ She wailed as she was cooked alive. When the chemical flame wore out its fuel, leaving a circle of dead, charred creep, Broodmother Rindell was half-fried atop a raw, useless lower body. She was clinging to life.

In her state of agony, she felt confusion. Normally, she would be recalled to her main Hive, to recuperate inside a chrysalis. She opened her eyes, looked around, and saw her Hive Cluster in flames.

Hundreds of these leaves had been filled with the flame liquid. Her main Hive, and its Lairs were particularly focused on. Eaten away by the disintegrating fires and very much dead. Her reserve broods had come out of burrowing, unable to escape underground from the chemical reaction that charred pits into the very Earth. They ran about in a confused panic.

Even more of the liquid fell. Aimed pressured jets of it that picked and followed targets. It came from high above.

Rindell's head turned forward, and she saw Saraslha. Walking up to her, with a pair of broods she'd never seen before. They looked like four-legged, armored tortoises. Their shelled bodies went taller than the top of their leader's head, and were outfitted with a ring-shaped gap in their shells on the very top. The soft ring of flesh inside this was lined with evenly arranged pores.

Saraslha's brood had come upon the disarrayed occupants of the Hive Cluster, and were hunting them like beasts. Rindell had not the strength to move, much less direct them.

"I'd like to explain something to you, Rindell."

" _How..?"_

"Watchposts, all over the place. As soon as I found your Hive cluster –found you- it was all over." She put both her hands on her two big tortoise friends. "There are a few dozen of these Pyrolisks up on the higher ground, dropped off by my Nydus Worm. You can thank them for your crippling injury, and your Cluster going up in flames." One of the Pyrolisks looked over past Rindell with its sleepy, tortoise-like head. All but one of the pores in the ring-shaped gap of its shell contracted shut, and it shot a jet of liquid out of the remaining open one. It was killing something out of her view.

" _This is not possible. You got lucky, you are weak."_

Saraslha shook her head, crouching down to better meet the collapsed Rindell's eyes. "You don't get it. I'm more powerful than you can imagine. You can't see it, so you simply assume it isn't there."

" _Your Swarm fights for you. You are defenseless by yourself."_ Even in this helpless state, Rindell would not submit to this frail creature. Not again.

She took a breath, and stood straight again. She turned, and leaned back on the large shell of one of her Pyrolisks. "I'm part Terran, probably a little over half, actually. This is why you don't accept me, right?"

" _Precisely."_

"Funny trait some Terrans have." She looked upward. "They're a courageous people, but some of them are full of bravado, of…" She turned her hand over, looking for the word. "Overconfidence. This overconfidence is not considered the same as courage, which has a positive connotation. And the thing about these particular overconfident Terrans, is that this bluster is always a cover, to conceal the fact that they don't know anything or understand anything."

" _Where are you going with—"_

Saraslha stopped her with a raised hand. "The Protoss, are a very wise people. So much knowledge, an amazing understanding of the Universe, its laws, its quirks, and their own place in it. But some Protoss will play Wisdom in a way that seems defiant. They'll act like they know what's going to happen when they actually don't. Entire sections of their society were taken to extinction by their vaunted infallibility. These particular, dead Protoss vaunted this wisdom, all in denial of the fact that they were powerless; that they can't actually have their way in the way they want to have it. They failed to adapt."

She continued. "Lastly, the Zerg. That's us, Rindell. We're a very powerful race. We can get our way in exactly the way we want to get it. And can adapt to nigh any circumstance." She looked down, at Rindell. "But there are some parts of our race that put up an act of power. Hold it up as everything, and arrogantly plow through opposition, pigheadedly unaware of the glaring weakness they've created in themselves. That weakness, Rindell, is cowardice."

" _You're calling me a coward, then?"_

Saraslha spread her arms. "I've beaten you, Rindell. I've always beaten you. And now, when given a chance to fight me without any restrictions, I still beat you. And yet still you make excuses. You tell me, Rindell. Are you a coward?"

" _I will never accept you as a peer. Much less Overqueen. It is unthinkable."_

Saraslha looked straight down at the ground, crouching. "Rindell, I got really angry at you today. I thought about killing you, wanted to kill you. But with a little bit of time, I changed my mind. This planet… this experience, is changing my mind about a lot of things. You've killed a lot of my people, and I a lot of yours. We were in competition, and I really, really wanted to win. And I did, but… The truth is…"

" _What?"_

She looked up from the ground, looking Rindell in the eye. "You're my brethren, Rindell. What we've done to each other…" She looked at her crippled lower body. "What I've done to you, is unforgivable."

" _That is typical, you are trying to pity me."_

"I don't want your submission, Rindell. And if you offered it to me now, I would turn it down."

Her eyes broadened at this, surprised.

Saraslha extended a hand. "I want the fighting to stop. That's all I ask. You take my hand, and I'll personally throw you into a Spawning Pool to heal up."

" _You want pacifism?"_

"Oh, no." She shook her head. "We'll fight, all the time. We have to." One of her two Pyrolisks looked off with its long, tortoise-like head, located low on its body. This time it decided not to burn something. "It's the intention that matters; the mindset. Our conflicts need to be about life, and its fitness to succeed. Not death and frustration."

" _It is I who would like to speak now, Saraslha."_

"Sure, say your piece."

" _I have always resented you. That is no secret. I thought of you as sheltered and advantaged. Only tested in ways that didn't push too hard or make you do anything you were bad at."_

"There are things I'm bad at." She conceded. "Controlling a sizable number of Zerg not least among them."

" _And you're always so braggadocios in your victories. You won, great, stop being annoying."_

She rolled her eyes. "I get what you're saying, I'm a sucky winner."

" _When you were being sent away from Char, away from the Overqueen, and made to complete a task without rules, out in the real world. I was overjoyed. I followed you here, wishing to fight you without restraint."_

"And here we are."

" _Now I see that your power is undeniable. I do not understand where it comes from, or its nature. But as I lay defeated, and you stand triumphant, it is I who is the fool, for not understanding the successful being."_

"I'm glad you're finally done making excuses, Rindell. You gonna stop trying to kill me now?"

" _I wish to join you. If you will have me, little Princess. I will do my utmost to be of use to you."_

Saraslha's hand was extended to the laid-down Rindell. She reached up, and took it.

With this, Saraslha pulled her arm over her shoulders, and got the Broodmother's large body atop her back. Saraslha was stronger than the average human, and was able to carry the bigger Rindell atop her back and shoulders with a squat and quick, heavy steps that alternated between different forms of being pressed into the ground. Rindell's damaged lower body hung off to the side, creating a weight imbalance which she had to compensate by leaning the other way.

Saraslha reached an intact Spawning Pool in the charred Hive Cluster, and dropped Rindell into it.

* * *

Alexei Stukov rode for an hour and a half. He'd gotten far enough ahead of the pursuing Renegade Zerg that they were no longer visible. He did not know if they were still after him. An hour ago, he got a report from his base that they'd successfully repelled the attack.

He was following the signal, the faint psionic signal coming from far away, and which he was certain was directing these Renegades. An hour and a half of riding, and he arrived at one of the many, many plateaus that seemed to dot the planet. It was in the badland, where flora was sparse and there were sulfur pits. The rise in the ground was host to a broad cave entrance. It seemed to have been dug out recently.

And in the cave entrance, he sensed the signal; the voice. It was getting stronger.


	4. To Unchain the Beast

The young Saraslha had won. Dominance over the planet was well in hand. Broodmother Rindell had been won over to her side, and the renegade Brood had no chance against their combined forces. They spread over the planet, occupying a considerable number of resource nodes for themselves, and destroying Renegade Hive Clusters wherever they could be found. The Renegades were disorganized, unambitious, and predictable. They only followed patterns prescribed by their instincts, and this made them a flimsy, negligible opponent.

Saraslha stood on a cliff edge, overlooking a large area of low ground between two rises. It was a ravine. In this low ground, a massive chunk of biomass was formed. It was connected to the artery network without any subtlety, with channels coming out of the sides of the cliffs. They cycled decomposed Mineral mass and condensed Vespene Gas through its living, growing form. Its white mass which lacked any pigment slowly, gradually came to take shape. There was no covering; what was seen on the outside would become the exterior of the final product.

" _Little Princess."_ The psionic voice was Rindell's. She'd taken to addressing Saraslha by this term. She'd come up behind her, stopping a respectful distance. _"All renegade Hive Clusters in the Epsilon region have been dealt with. My Brood is numerous, and it is efficient."_

"Well done, Rindell." She said, not taking her eyes off the massive, slowly developing project below."The hard part is over, and now it's only a matter of process."

" _I have also located, and identified the Terran presence noticed by your watchposts. It turns out they are all infested; subordinate to the Swarm."_

She lifted her eyebrows in genuine surprise at this detail. " _Tell me Rindell: What did they have to say?"_

" _Their commander, a Lieutenant Benjamin, said he wishes to speak to you personally. I brought him along, and with your permission, he will enter your presence."_

"Yes, he may have an audience." Saraslha said.

Infested Benjamin approached, and saluted. "Highness." He said, with exceptionally developed speech by Infested Terran Standards. "Our presence here is unprecedented-"

"Ya think?" Saraslha had turned around to face her guest. "All Infested Terrans were moved to Stukov's swarm. Are you going to tell me he's on this planet as well?"

"...Yes. Yes he is, Princess."

This news only surprised her more. Now she wanted to hear whatever story this one had to tell. "Okay, start from the beginning."

He nodded, taking only the most cursory glance at Rindell next to him before beginning. "We were sent here as a redundancy for your own mission. If you failed, we were to complete the job. Stukov was also to ensure that your death would not happen under any circumstance."

The first part made sense, but the second part felt like news. "If I fail, I fail. Why would mother want to dilute her experiment with intervention?"

He just shrugged. "This is what Vice Admiral Stukov told me. You will need to talk to him for more on that."

She was about to ask where he was, or why he didn't show up personally, but then a minor peeve hit her conscious. "Why do you call him 'Vice Admiral'? That's not a Zerg rank. He's really more of a Broodmother."

"Vice admiral was his rank in the United Earth Directorate. The people in his swarm prefer it over Broodmother. Much the same way they prefer to call you the little Princess."

Saraslha's look shot over to Rindell. _"You can feel free to laugh, now. This is objectively funny."_

Broodmother Rindell went ahead and laughed. _"I seem to have something in common with these infested Terrans."_

"I hate both of you right now." Saraslha said to both of them.

"Our Vice Admiral has gone missing." Infested Benjamin continued with a sober tone. "I have no doubt he's perfectly fine; he eats danger and shits bullets. But it remains a curiosity. Whatever is keeping him from reporting back must certainly be significant."

"How long ago..?"

"Ten hours, Highness." He pulled out a smartphone. "I can show you his text right here-"

"No. It's fine, I believe you." Saraslha said. "I'm trying to evaluate how urgent this is. If I can wait for my Leviathan to mature before going to look for him, then I'm going to do that."

"Leviathan…" he blinked, causing a film to go over his eyes. "Is that the titanic life signature I'm sensing just past the cliff you're standing on?"

" _Indeed it is, Benjamin."_ Rindell said. _"The Little Princess began incubation as soon as our resource budget became realistic."_

Saraslha crossed her arms, looking off to the side. "I want a safe, comfy Flagship to direct my people from. Besides," she looked ahead at them again. "Leviathans are really cool."

"Whatever is your prerogative, Highness."

" _As the Little Princess desires."_ Rindell made a satirical curtsey gesture.

Saraslha sighed. There was no way to get an 'it's all good' from these two. She was their superior, and they were treating her as such, with all of the fun there was in playfully subverting that order. "Right then," she said to both of them, adopting her sober demeanor again. "I want emphasis put on expanding our web of watchposts. If we detect Stukov's essence, then I want an expeditionary force deployed to his location."

Both officers took this order seriously. Rindell put a hand on her head, undoubtedly broadcasting a psionic order. Infested Benjamin looked up at her. "My people's air division can patrol the outer border of your sentry network. Our Wraiths are faster than flying Zerg, and capable of cloaking. They are ideal scouts."

Rindell looked his way, _"I don't think that is necessary-"_

"Good call, Benjamin." Saraslha interrupted. "You've a green light to patrol our outskirts with your air force."

"Thank you for making use of us, Highness." he nodded.

She continued, "If they, or our Zerg sentries come across a significant concentration of Renegades, your orders are to avoid engagement and leave it to our main forces." She was looking at both of them. "I want no heroics from either of you."

" _Got it,"_ Rindell said, clearly in a mission-oriented mindset.

Benjamin saluted. "For the Swarm."

Saraslha returned the gesture with one of her human-like arms. "For the Swarm. Dismissed."

Benjamin turned, and left. Rindell watched him go, and turned back to Saraslha. _"There is also the matter of our hastily made lesser Swarm Queens. We will need more to cover the entire planet, but they are…"_

"It's fine, you can say it."

" _Idiots."_

"Just bear with it, Rindell. They'll learn. Slowly, but it'll happen."

" _The reason I bring it up is not to complain. I am simply curious whether you had an upgrade, or replacement for them in the works."_

"My Pyrolisks and Fire Fountains really left an impression on you, did they?"

" _If you were able to invent those, you might find a way to make officers who don't require a learning curve."_

"It's not top on my list of priorities right now. By the way, how _are_ my new underlings performing?"

There was a pause before Rindell answered, _"…The ecosystem of this planet may become permanently altered before we're finished."_

"Heheh…" Saraslha had a devious smile. "That's my babies."

" _Collateral damage aside, what are you planning to do with this planet?"_

It occurred to her that Rindell had not come to this planet with permission. She didn't know the big picture mission. When Saraslha thought of this, she was reminded of that mission herself, and her gut sank. "Oh… Might not want to expand the Brood too big, ol' Rindell…"

" _Your mind has suddenly withdrawn, my Princess. What is the problem?"_

Her hand was on her gut, and she was leaning forward. "Mothe—the Overqueen, says we can't keep the planet. Once all the Renegades are dead, we're taking off in the new Leviathan, and not leaving anything behind."

" _This makes no sense. Why would we not leave an occupational force?"_

"The Terran Dominion wants it…" She was suddenly depressed and low energy in her demeanor. "We're just the cleanup crew."

" _The humans? They should deal with the renegades themselves, then!"_ Rindell was suddenly angry; outraged.

She chuckled and smiled half-heartedly. "I said the exact same thing…" She looked upward, rationalizing, "It's a diplomatic move. Mom wants to show the humans she's serious about a long-term peace. To them, she looks like the good Zerg fighting off the bad Zerg."

" _It's a plant the seeds of war move. You will no doubt still feel raw about it when you become Overqueen."_

Saraslha was surprised by Rindell's explicit assumption. "You really think that?"

" _Indeed."_ Rindell said, making her posture a bit more formal. _"You have more than won this planet through blood and effort. It would be quite surprising if you were not still angry about it in the future."_

"I see." She turned around, looking back down at the Leviathan Pupa. It had grown considerably in size during the few minutes she had her back to it. "There yet remains a job to finish. Wipe out the remaining Renegades, and find Stukov. Then we can-" She smacked a bug that landed next to her ear. "Get off this planet. Don't let me keep you, Rindell."

" _As you wish, little Princess."_ Her tone went back to being filled with purpose and energy. _"It will not take long."_

* * *

" _Environmental impact?"_ Zagara had been in front of a small Khaydarin Crystal for several hours. It powered a long-range psionic link to another crystal a great distance away. She flavored these words. _"Is that a Terran synonym, meaning the same thing as planetary bombardment?"_

" _It does not appear so, Broodmother Zagara."_ Said the other voice on the other end of the crystal link. The voice was high-pitched and feminine. It was like a beautiful singing voice that lacked any emotional charge; pleasant notes with an efficient and dispassionate tone and pace. _"Korhal is an unfamiliar place, Broodmother. There are many minds here, and they are all so loud, unaware that someone might be listening to their thoughts."_

" _Stay focused, Izsha."_ Zagara said. _"Wrap up your report, and you will be able to sleep."_ Izsha used to be the personal Adjutant for the Queen of Blades. After Zagara took over the Swarm, she appointed the efficient, clear-thinking being as the Swarm's Ambassador to the Terran Dominion.

" _Yes, of course. A part of the planet Sephulli's appeal to the Terrans is the wide variety of life forms indigenous to it."_

" _Is it to collect the essence of these life forms?"_ Zagara asked.

" _Their explanations are vague. The phrase: 'Scientific Value' was used often in our dialogue."_

" _It could be their science collects essence in its own way…"_ Zagara mused. She remembered years ago, it would have been unthinkable for her to have curiosities of this nature. But during those times, the Queen of Blades had Zagara's brain mass expanded in numerous upgrades.

After the End War concluded, and things became calmer; the needs of the Swarm less pressing due to no longer being at war, this expanded brain mass created an inevitable thirst for knowledge in Zagara. An openness toward new ideas and a natural introspective curiosity about her own existence. This led to a fascination with Terran and Protoss minds; thinking people who were curious like her, and self-aware like her, but so very different.

This fascination had a significant influence on Zagara's design of her child. Protoss essence was unusable to Zerg, and so she settled on Terran.

Izsha continued: _"Furthermore, they wished to know of what means you had prescribed to deal with the renegade Brood. I was truthful, and informed them that you had sent your daughter."_

" _I told Saraslha nothing of sparing the planet's nature. They should have made this preference apparent sooner. Next item."_

" _They next expressed curiosity over your having a daughter."_

" _They express a lot of curiosities toward you, do they?"_

" _It is my function to interpret, compile, and relay information."_

And they apparently caught on to that. _"What did you tell them?"_

" _I was purposefully vague, and informed them that she was an experiment."_

Zagara burst into laughter. _"You certainly know how to be diplomatic, Izsha."_ The idea of someone being one's child, and yet also an experiment would come off as bewildering to humans. Zagara was aware of this.

" _I did not think they would be receptive to the fact that Saraslha looked like them, and behaved similarly to them, but was Zerg. The information I have on the psychological concept called the 'Uncanny Valley' would suggest they would find it appalling."_

" _Your mind performs with precision as always, Izsha."_

" _That is all I have to report, Broodmother. I wish to sleep now, and quiet the voices around me."_ Izsha's own crystal was located in the Zerg Embassy in Augustgrad. The building had been emptied and given to them to use. Izsha and her small guard of elite strains had made it their own.

" _That is all I need from you, Izsha."_ With this, Izsha closed the connection, and Zagara was left alone in her private communication chamber. To Izsha, the Queen of Blades was still Leader of the Swarm, and what's why she addressed Zagara as 'Broodmother.' However, Zagara was still the previous ruler's number two, and this made Izsha fully compliant to her wishes.

Zagara's mind rapidly shifted away from Izsha, and to Saraslha. This had been the first time in her young daughter's life that she was out of reach of a psionic connection. The first time Zagara could not sense where she was and what she was doing. At first it was a negligible concern. But once it actually happened, Zagara checked the connection with Saraslha out of habit, finding and being reminded that she was out of reach. This slowly began to get to her.

" _I look forward seeing… to how different you'll be, when you return, Saraslha."_

* * *

"This… really calls for some explaining, Rindell. You're telling me your Brood lost a skirmish with the Renegades?" Saraslha was at her spot overlooking the developing Leviathan Pupa.

" _The far eastern section of the Sierra Region. I underestimated the number of defenders for the Hive Clusters in that area. There were more than I expected."_

"In other words more than usual." Their communication as long range. Rindell was kilometers off at her Hive Cluster in the Sierra Region, campaigning there.

" _It is but a flop of circumstance, little Princess. I shall attack with a larger force than the previous, and crush them."_

"Don't do that." Saraslha said, looking off and frowning. She didn't know why, but this news spooked her. The Renegades; the dumb, aimless renegades had won a skirmish. And now they'd provoked a certain, predictable reaction from her general. "Rindell, this is going to seem odd, but I want you to treat the Renegades like a real enemy; a genuine threat. Over-estimate the hell out of them, and don't go in with everything as though they can't anticipate it. I don't care if it takes longer to secure the region."

" _This does not make sense to me, but consider it done."_

Saraslha could not contain her paranoia. "If you simply attack again with a larger force, they'll have secretly pulled reinforcements from another region to encircle your attack, and at the same time launch a surprise counterattack on your Hive Cluster." This would not happen without a directing intelligence, but her worries ran ahead of her reason.

" _Saraslha,"_ Rindell said firmly. _"I said I would do as you asked. Please, do not concern yourself."_

"Alright, then." Saraslha hung up mentally, trying to calm down. She was being irrational; there was nothing to suggest that the Renegades were being directed. Or that they even could be, with their original controller dead. She recalled a bit of history. The Zerg were once ruled by an entity called the Overmind, and its will was carried out by agents called Cerebrates. The permanent death of a Cerebrate named Zasz created the need for all of its renegade Brood to be killed.

"A deed carried out by…" Her mind went to the experience of reading about another Cerebrate, from Izsha's information archives, and from the databases of the older abandoned Command Centers on Char. She beamed at the thought. "Now that was a general. If I had that son of a gun, it'd be like having Rindell times ten." But it was not to be. The Queen of Blades had disposed of all remaining Cerebrates after the Brood War.

Saraslha had suddenly sensed something, near the space she physically occupied. "I can sense your presence, Human. You can't hide from Overlords, even with that kind of stealth." There was one passing overhead, she ordered it to stop and remain put.

The Human revealed herself, coming out of a collection of vegetation a distance away from the Cliffside and Saraslha. She was a Ghost, and turning off her cloaking revealed an attractive appearance with ponytailed blonde hair, as well as a two-handed canister rifle which she held idle in one. "What the hell are you?" She asked, staring at Saraslha's humanoid appearance.

She smiled politely at her guest, clasping her hands behind her back. "I'm a Saraslha. What are you?"

She laughed a bit at this, only a bit. "I'm a Nova."

"You must have a lot of energy to be a nova."

She examined Saraslha from head to foot. "I expected Zagara's daughter to be something scary and mean. You're a pipsqueak."

"Oh, I may be fulla pip, and I may squeak, but I gotta wicked bite!" She made an exaggerated clomp with her teeth. "Give ya rabies."

This got her to laugh a bit more, but only a bit.

"So what's the Dominion doing here so soon? Cleanup isn't done yet. You're kinda making me feel unprofessional."

Suddenly Nova's face became serious; intent. "How did you know I'm with the Terran Dominion?" Her rifle was cradled in both hands now. "I never told you that."

Saraslha sobered as well, but was relaxed. She tapped her own forehead with her clawed fingertips. "A Terran shows up, undoubtedly with friends, and nowhere is my Brood under attack. You single me out and know I'm the leader of this bunch, in spite of my being, in your own words, a pipsqueak. That, and you haven't shot me, non-aggression agreement and all. I stay on top of this stuff, Ghost lady."

Nova thought about it, and then her brow relaxed.

"So back to my question. What do you guys need?" Saraslha's tone remained polite and accommodating.

"You've been here awhile. I need to know if you or your people have come across anything strange."

"Strange as in mysterious? Or strange like 'I saw a fish that looked like a cat?'"

Nova's face became the slightest bit quizzical. "Psionic presence strange. Why? Did you see a fish that looked like a cat?"

"Well, not here. But on this other planet where back in the War you guys nuked the hell out a certain area—"

"How old are you?" She was frowning now, her question somewhat rhetorical.

"In Human years? I'd say about…" She looked off, slowly counting with her fingers without looking at them. "Four…"

"..Teen?"

"Four… years. Yeah, I'd say about four years."

She was looking off now, rubbing her face. "I can't believe it…"

"I know, I really am a pipsqueak. Four entire years, and not fully grown. Clearly it's time for a spurt."

"I'm talking to a child…"

"You've got to be three, at most, right?"

"No."

"You're in great shape." Saraslha suddenly remarked, changing the subject.

"Excuse me?" Nova looked at her directly again.

She raised her hands. "What I mean is, I sense your cardiovascular functions are top notch, and your body shape well-proportioned. You must get a lot of attention from male Terrans-"

Now her face became repulsed, "What the hell, little girl? Where is this coming from?"

"Oh! I'm sorry," Saraslha quickly stopped herself. "I was told female Terrans enjoyed being complimented on their appearance."

"Yeah? Well you're doing it wrong."

There was a minute of silence as Saraslha thought of what to say next. "...Can I try again?"

"No."

Saraslha nodded at this, then placed her index and middle fingers on her forehead. _"Can you hear this, Ghost lady?"_ She spoke telepathically.

Nova shut her eyes, locking onto the signal. _"Yes, your voice feels different from human psychics. But I can sense it now."_

" _If I come across anything out of the ordinary on this planet, I'll let you know over this link."_

" _That'll work. Thank you for your cooperation."_ She turned to leave.

" _Just out of curiosity, what is it you're looking for?"_

She stopped, not turning around. _"Three standard hours ago, I led a raid on a facility of Moebius remnants, and extracted a lead from their data banks. The lead pointed to this planet."_

" _You're just up and telling me all this?"_ Saraslha said.

" _We're sharing intel now, right?"_

" _And what was the lead to? What are you looking for?"_

There was a pause, her back still to her. _"A… Sleeping Giant. That's what they referred to it as. It's a metaphor, for something very dangerous, best left alone."_

* * *

Alexei Stukov had entered the cavern, from which emanated the psionic presence; the faint signal which piqued his curiosity, and was likely the source of the organized Renegades. Veins of a green, crystalline sediment were in the rock walls and ceiling of the darkening cavern, growing thicker and more prevalent as he got further away from the sunlight of the cavern entrance.

He recognized the substance; the Protoss would use it as a component to create Ihan Crystals; devices which could store an individual's memories, and transmit them directly into the mind of another. If architecture were constructed around this green substance to charge it with energy, as well as organize its contents in a comprehensive way, it could store someone's memories and play them back.

As he moved deeper into the cavern, an energy pulse went through the green material. A voice; the memory of a voice was communed into his mind:

_Awaken my child, and embrace the glory that is your birthright. Know that I am the Overmind; the eternal Will of the Swarm, and that you have been created to serve me._

This was the memory of someone who had talked directly to the Overmind. Stukov's curiosity only intensified as he walked more briskly through the cavern. It took him downhill; deeper underground. Another pulse of energy through the green crystal in the veins of the cavern walls.

_Greetings, Cerebrate. By now you've realized that I've severed your connection with the Overmind and your renegade brethren. Understand it's nothing personal. I just can't risk you falling under their influence. You're mine now. Serve me unquestioningly, and I'll let you live._

Yet another memory. This voice sounded like the Queen of Blades, and the words gave away that the memory of the one hearing it belonged to a Cerebrate. It was natural crystal with no sorting element, so it was difficult to judge the order in which these memories occurred.

He detected another source of light, veering off in a fork in the cavern path. He headed toward it. Another pulse in the crystal veins:

_Yet your purpose is unique. While they carry forth my will to the innumerable broods, you have but one charge entrusted to your care. … you must watch over the Chrysalis, and ensure that no harm comes to the creature within it. Go now, and keep safe my prize._

A memory of the Overmind's voice again. Stukov reached the source of light having walked a bit uphill. It came out of an opening in the cavern floor. Once he got close enough to look directly through, he saw another tunnel, this one with a metal catwalk running through the bottom, and electric lights on an overhead rail. He heard two sets of footsteps approaching from one end of the tunnel below. With this, he backed off, remaining out of sight.

The footsteps in the tunnel below the opening grew louder, as did a pair of voices: "..The Subject has begun getting psionic communications through to the outside. Our mind-dampening drugs are becoming less effective by the day."

"I know," said the other voice. "We modify the stims, and it just starts developing a resistance to them all over again. We're running out of time." The two passed by the opening in the rock above. Alexei Stukov dropped silently in behind them, and followed them.

"I can't believe the thing has survived all these years underground. And why does it look like an Ultralisk?"

"Its broken body merged with the broken body of a similarly crushed Torrasque. Their powers of reincarnation complemented one another. The merged creature was able to slowly rebuild itself over time."

Torrasque was an old, powerful Ultralisk capable of reincarnation after death. Recreating the trait for all Ultralisks was a failed project, until during the Queen of Blades' invasion of Korhal, an experimental weapon used by the Terran Dominion accidentally reawakened the atrophied sequence. A Torrasque merging with a Cerebrate while they were both regenerating their biomass had never happened before, and the result would be unpredictable. Stukov continued following the two men around a corner of the catwalk built in the underground tunnel network. They did not notice him.

"Just imagine the power, if we were able to control the creature, or replicate its Zerg-controlling capacity. The Dominion and Daelaam wouldn't know what hit them."

"You're forgetting the Zerg Overqueen. She might be able to take control of the Subject, or the replicas we might make out of it."

"I've been monitoring its psionic voice. The damn thing won't shut up about the Queen of Blades, wanting to know where she is, what she's doing."

The other man snickered at this. "Did you tell it she's gone?"

"Yeah, sure, in a better place." A noise emitted behind them. They turned, and noticed Stukov.

He shot his infested arm through the body of one of the men, and then, with the impaled person in the air, he stepped forward and shot the same arm through the second man's center of mass. This strike caused his hand to go into the rock wall behind the second man by accident, making a pit into it.

He withdrew his left hand, and then flung the human shish-kebab off his arm. With this, he advanced through the corridors. It was obvious this place was a secret testing facility, centered on a single specimen. He also deduced that this specimen was directing the Renegade Zerg, which used to be its Brood.

A psionic voice made its way into his mind. _"I… sense your presence. You are… Alexei Stukov. But changed, stronger, more Zerg."_

Stukov replied as he walked briskly through the corridors, shooting his eyes left and right to check each intersection he passed. _"And I'm beginning to put the pieces together, as to what's going on down here."_

" _You know… what I am?"_

" _I know who you are."_

" _I need to break free of this prison. I must find the Queen."_

Stukov came upon a pair of Marines, men in powered armor with heavy-caliber rifles, whose patrol rounded a corner right in front of him. He unleashed a blast of green energy through his more infested left arm.

Before they even lifted their weapons, they were killed, giant chunks of them corroded into goo by his energy blast. _"Why did you attack my base camp?"_

" _I must kill the Terrans on this world. Then my Brood can find me, and free me, and then I can find the Queen."_

" _Which one?"_ Stukov asked, peeking around the next corner, then proceeding when he saw the path was clear. He was getting closer to the source of the voice, he knew it. He also realized that it must have attacked his base thinking it guarded the facility in which it was held.

" _There is only one queen of the Zerg."_ The voice said.

" _I am afraid not any longer, there are queens all over the Zerg now; replacements, for your kind."_

The source of the voice was silent for a moment.

" _And that's the buildup for my question to you, Cerebrate. Are you out for the Queen of Blades because she wanted to kill you? Over the fact that she wrapped you up in plastic and threw you away like trash?"_

" _You do not understand, Stukov."_

" _Enlighten me. If I like your answer, I may just turn you loose."_

" _My only purpose is to protect the Queen. I was given that purpose from my moment of conception, when she was developing inside a Chrysalis. It was my purpose when she reclaimed me from the second Overmind. It was my purpose when I destroyed your Directorate's fleet, and crushed her enemies to nothing on Char Aleph."_

Stukov came upon a catwalk overlooking a sizable chamber with gleaming metal floor, walls and ceiling. Inside a giant containment field down on the main floor, and shackled into the wall behind it by metal braces and tightly wound steel cable, was what looked like an abnormally large Ultralisk.

But its front half rose higher, in a centaur-esque body shape with extended limbs grown outside beside its giant bladed tusks. And its Ultralisk-like head had a swelling under its carapace. Rounding off in a dual-oval shape rather than a wide shield. It was an indicator of a giant piece of brain mass having integrated itself inside. To compensate for this weight imbalance, its legs were larger, thicker, and more prominent.

It was shackled down at every conceivable point of motion, and the containment field maintained itself over it. Stukov saw people down on the floor with equipment. Computer screens, glass tanks containing chemicals and biological samples. A wide set of tubes were punctured into the creature's carapace, cycling drugs into its system. _"I believe you,"_ Stukov said to it. The people below could not hear their conversation. _"You're the reason Gerard's mission failed, and he died in disgrace."_

" _When my Swarm caught up to what remained of Admiral DuGalle's fleet, he had already taken his own life. He would have died with his fleet either way, but he chose to shoot himself."_

" _I did not know that…"_ Stukov said. _"You… are actually the only being alive who could have told me that."_

" _It changes nothing of my killing him."_ The psionic voice was deep-throated and clearly pronounced. Its tone suggested experience, but also a carefree ease. This being lived in a complex world, but one which it waded through in powerful strides.

" _Yes, but it's still good to know… My old friend, he chose to die on his own terms."_

" _If you shut down the containment field over me, I will be able to escape. The choice is yours, Stukov. I do not know your motivations now; your leanings. But you have the power to grant my freedom."_

Stukov's first idea was to kill the creature, denying it from these people and ending the potential threat it posed. What would be the point of letting it go, only for it to learn that its Queen no longer existed as a mortal, and its purpose was no longer relevant?

If he set it free, it would undoubtedly kill everyone in this secret facility, and retake control of its Brood on the planet. What would Zagara think of this? He asked himself. What would the Little One…

The idea of Saraslha occurred to him. Right before he entered the cavern, his people reported to him that she had triumphed over Broodmother Rindell. This surprised him; the little one had defied all expectations, and defeated a stronger opponent in a no holds barred war. _"I think… I have thought of a purpose for you."_ The Little One was on easy street with Rindell conquered. It was time to up the ante for her. _"What is your name?"_

" _I did not have a name, until one was formed during my long dormancy. I am Vaus."_

" _If I let you go, what do you plan to do?"_

" _I will kill these beings who have held me and tortured me, and then return myself to the Queen. If she deems that I must be destroyed again, then so be it."_

"You're one crazy son of a bitch." He spoke aloud now, not caring if the people below heard. He charged a Corrosive Blast in his infested arm, and then fired it into the containment field projector on the ceiling. It melted through the shell and innards of the piece of equipment, causing the field to fail.

The lights in the room reddened, and alarm horns began their loud announcement of emergency.

"Quickly, purge the Specimen!" Someone on the floor yelled. A large powered door opened on the other side of the room, revealing the business end of a Yamato Cannon, a powerful gun normally seen serving as the main weapon of Terran capital ships. It was already charging its blast as the door opened.

"They're not screwing around, Vaus!" Alexei was grinning in excitement at this development as he watched from the catwalk above.

Vaus broke out of its restraints on one side of his body, and then began working the other side. He saw the charging cannon.

It fired. Any personnel on the floor who did not make it out in time were killed by simply being near the blast. Alexei was not effected.

Vaus was hit directly by the Yamato Cannon's super heated particle blast. At first he, and the entire area around him appeared like a glowing blob of melted metal and smoke.

A Psionic Lash shot out of this smoky cloud, and it struck the Yamato cannon, slicing it clean in two and causing its remaining energy reserve to release in an explosion.

Now free of his melted away shackles, Vaus walked out onto the main floor of the chamber. His carapace was cooked, burned completely through at some spots. But these wounds were rapidly regenerating. He looked up at Alexei Stukov.

Stukov jumped over the railing, and landed on the floor next to the giant Ultralisk-Cerebrate. The fall would break the legs of an ordinary human; he was fine. "I'll back you up. Let's go."

In silent agreement, Vaus headed toward another large blast door; one which led to a freight tunnel used to bring him in. He did not muscle it open. All it required was gripping the object telekinetically. It was torn completely out of its housing.

Stukov managed to contain his excitement. "The Little One is going to have some fun with this thing." He genuinely wondered, what she was going to do to deal with this particular opponent. He had no doubt they would end up fighting.

* * *

Saraslha sensed it. Like a thunderbolt, she sensed the sudden appearance of the being's psionic presence. Until a few moments ago it had been hidden. Now it was clear as the planet's sun in the sky. Feeling slightly overwhelmed and paralyzed, she touched her forehead. _"Nova…"_

" _I sense it."_

"'k _ay…"_ She took her hand off. Then she put it back on. _"Rindell…"_

" _The renegade Brood has changed its behavior. They have all moved at once, something is surely directing them."_

" _Something is,"_ Saraslha said. _"Wrap things up in the Sierra region, and get yourself back to me."_ She again took her hand off, then pulled out a communicator. "Lieutenant Benjamin, pull your scouting parties back."

"Aye sir."

Saraslha turned around to overlook the cliff edge again. The Leviathan was nearing maturity. Its shape was almost completely defined, and its color saturated. She could sense its mind, now awake and conscious. "You're gonna have your work cut out for you, my giant friend."


	5. Saraslha's Way

A new Leviathan had entered orbit over Char, having just come out of Warp Space. Zagara sensed it, and sensed her daughter's unique mental format on the control receptacle of its mind. It was Saraslha's.

There was an enormous clearing of open space in front of the main entrance of the Primary Hive Cluster. Zagara waited here outside the massive hall-like front door, watching as the titanic Zerg creature entered the atmosphere, growing larger in view as it flew toward her.

The Leviathan stopped and then idled in midair a fair distance above the open space constituting the giant Hive's Creep lawn. A Nydus Worm came down from the Leviathan, and hovered its head above a spot just ten meters from Zagara. Out of its regurgitation came Saraslha. She looked exactly the same as when she left. And there was no doubt it was her. Zagara felt her unique mind.

There were no words exchanged as Saraslha walked tentatively toward Zagara, and Zagara came away from the door entrance, coming closer to her.

They stopped right up to each other. Saraslha looked off, frowning. "Mother, I…"

Zagara embraced her, holding her tightly, with as close to a hug as was possible for a Broodmother's physiology. _"Saraslha, my beautiful child... Welcome home."_

Saraslha's cheek was pressed against her carapace. She returned the embrace. And her face, out of view of Zagara's eyes, had tears in them. Never in her life had her mother shown this level of affection. "There's… there's a lot—"

" _It can wait."_ Zagara said. _"First come inside, and you can tell me your story. I want to hear everything you've been up to while away."_

* * *

**Earlier that Day**

The young Saraslha had been hit with a new wave of resistance to completing her mission. The Renegade Zerg still occupied a significant area, and now they were moving; gathering resources and building up their forces.

" _Princess, the Sierra region is ours."_ Rindell reported. _"However, my momentum has been dampened."_

Saraslha took a breath. _"You took heavy losses, correct?"_

" _Indeed. Their intelligence has jumped considerably; Lurker ambushes, and a roaming force which picked off my weaker task forces. I was foolish to have divided my army."_

" _Get back to me, Rindell. Your Brood is spread too thin over too many areas around our territory. The situation has changed, and we need to change our strategy."_

" _Understood."_

Saraslha was standing next to a flat limestone sticking out of the ground and covered in creep. It was next to her main Hive Cluster. Having Broodmother Rindell as a subordinate, but otherwise independent agent increased the size of Saraslha's force to both their control capacities put together.

A Broodmother was one out of every thousand or so Swarm Queens who grew strong and intelligent enough to break off from their original Brood and start their own. The young Swarm Queens which Saraslha and Rindell had made recently were nowhere near to reaching this level.

"Saraslha, we need to talk." The source of the voice was approaching Saraslha's rock-table from the side.

She looked that direction, and saw Nova approaching, this time making no attempt at stealth. Saraslha's Brood, stationed all over the place, did not attack. "Nova, things are about to get really hardcore really fast."

She stopped next to the creep-covered rock, looking over it toward her. "I'll agree that we have a situation."

Saraslha continued: "Your army had better be worth its salt. I'll need some solid backup if the Renegades push me into a stalemate."

"I don't have an army, Saraslha." Nova was shaking her head. "All I brought was a team of Ghosts."

"What! Come on…" She was gesturing, lifting her eyebrows. "We're not under any surveillance here. You can talk freely."

"I located the controller of the Renegades, and was about to infiltrate the facility and kill it. But someone beat me to it, and set the damn thing loose."

"Slow down, Ghost lady. What facility?"

She slowed down, setting her rifle on the table and propping her arms, looking downward. "Another laboratory of Moebius remnants was on this planet. They hid it well, but it's impossible to perfectly hide something that requires occasional shipments of supplies and equipment. Myself and a team of Ghosts came here incognito."

"..Just ahead of a Dominion assault force, am I right?"

"No. The lead was tenuous; all I had was a hunch the lab was here. I can't call in the cavalry without cause."

"But once you learned there was a Moebius base, I'm hoping you did call for this cavalry."

"Of course." Her facing leveled off, staring ahead. "But it'll be one standard day before they arrive."

"Just perfect." Saraslha had a dour look, and her tone was sarcastic. "I came here from Char, and that took… like an hour."

"It's not so simple with a large military force, Saraslha. There are logistical and organizational needs that have to be seen to."

"And bureaucratic, right? All that lovely red tape and documentation; clearance from the boys upstairs." Saraslha had a flat stare.

"It could definitely be more efficient, I'll give you that." Nova conceded.

"So then why have you never tried to do anything about it?"

"What do you mean?"

"If you have a better idea of how things in your military should be run, why don't you give it a shot? If you know better, then why not see if you really know better?"

She shook her head. "I'm not political. I do my thing in the field, I get the job done. That's my role."

Saraslha looked at Nova intently. "I've heard the stories about you, Nova. If I could turn you into something like a Broodmother, and have you in my Swarm, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Do you have any idea how much I'd kill for experienced and able-minded people to help me run things? I have Rindell, but she's only one."

Nova shook her head again. "Ambitions like that will ruin your health. It's not as simple as you make it out to be."

Saraslha had a big smile. "That, Ghost lady, is a wonderful worldview. Complex issues, moral greyness. You can be a Zerg Broodmother if you'd like. I'll vouch for you with Zagara."

"No."

"Well, the offer is on the table."

Nova made an exasperated exhale, pinching her forehead. "Look, there's…

"We can…" Saraslha slowed down. "Move on to—"

"I'd like to explain something. Just… hear me out."

"Yeah, of course, say your piece."

"Every Terran has an independent mind. Like you, like your Broodmothers, like your old Cerebrates. And every one of these Terran minds has its own ideas, and believes its own ideas are the best and better than anyone else's."

"But that's a falsehood," Saraslha said. "Ideas have varying levels of merit."

"Tell any Terran that and they'll agree with you, and then tell you that their own ideas are at the top of that merit ladder."

"And do they… test these ideas? In real life?

"Almost never."

"Well that's dumb." Saraslha's arms crossed. "If they think their ideas are the best, why would they only talk about them and never apply them?"

"That's easy for a Zerg to say. The only ones of your kind with ideas are your leaders."

Saraslha shook her head. "Your people have an entire marketplace of ideas. That's way better than what we have."

"The point I'm getting to," Nova said, "is the only way Terrans can be organized, and unified, is if the vast majority of us shut our traps, suck it up and do as we're told. And most of us are content with doing this. Even if it means red tape and bureaucracy."

"Are you content with it?"

"Yes."

"What if you were told to do something ridiculous, like drown a puppy?"

"I would drown the puppy."

Saraslha smiled again. "See? You'd be a great Zerg. Your superior orders you to do nutty things and…" She snapped her fingers. "No questions asked."

Broodmother Rindell had come out of the Nydus Network in the Main Hive Cluster, and was walking up the hill to Saraslha's outdoor war room table. "Rindell, glad you could make it." Saraslha greeted as she took a spot around the rock.

" _Lieutenant Benjamin will be here shortly."_ Rindell said. _"I am regrouping my Brood to three concentrated staging areas, and a reserve force at my main Cluster."_ She looked toward Nova. _"How many soldiers can be counted among your party, Ghost lady?"_

Saraslha interjected, "Rindell, no. That's not actually her name."

Rindell looked at her. _"You referred to her as the Ghost lady, my Princess."_

"I know, bad habit. Her name is Nova."

"And all I've got is a team of Ghosts and myself." Nova said to Rindell.

" _Are your Ghosts strong?"_ Rindell asked.

"The best of the best. But we're not a frontline army."

"Their real army's a comin'." Saraslha explained. "In the short, short time frame of one day."

Rindell looked back at Nova. _"That is inconceivable. Why would it take so long to send forces?"_

"Said the same thing…" Saraslha was looking off. Nova was rolling her eyes.

" _I came here from Gystt, and it took an hour, at most."_

"Yeeeep" Saraslha slapped the table. "Let's talk business now."

Nova leaned in, propping her arms again. "The controller of these broods is a Cerebrate. It survived the Queen of Blades' purging of them after the Brood War, and the Moebius remnants were analyzing the creature in captivity, looking for a way to control or clone it."

"Which Cerebrate?"

Nova frowned with thought. "How would I know which? Does it make a difference?"

"In reverse order: absolutely, and did it have a color?"

She nodded. "Yeah, violet."

Saraslha's eyes became a pair of round blue beads at this. "That's… just our flipping luck." She was letting non-humorous laughter escape her nose. "Of all the Cerebrates that might survive the purge, it had to be that son of a bitch."

" _I am not as literate in history."_ Rindell said. _"Which Cerebrate was this?"_

"The one who successfully penetrated the defenses of the Protoss home world of Aiur. The one who fought on Char Aleph." Saraslha looked at both of them. She pointed an index finger on top of the rock. "In the Brood War, the Queen of Blades' swarm was spread thin and all over the place. They'd just killed the second Overmind, got into scuffles on distant worlds, and her right hand guy Duran was nowhere to be found.

They both remained quiet, letting her tell the story. The infested Lieutenant Benjamin came up to the table, noticed she was telling a story, and was quiet as well.

"Three giant fleets came to Char. All unified by their mutual enemy: the Queen of Blades." Saraslha looked at Nova. "One fleet was the Dominion." She looked at Rindell, "one was the Protoss." She then looked at Benjamin. "And another from the United Earth Directorate. They all converged on the platform over Char: Char Aleph. And the Queen of Blades' only line of defense was a relatively small force under this… son of a bitch, this Cerebrate we're up against now." She opened her hands outward. "Do any of you know the outcome?"

Rindell spoke: _"I would imagine an alliance such as that would be tenuous. After wiping off the small Zerg force, the three separate forces would begin fighting one another-"_

"The Zerg won." Saraslha cut her off as she poked three spots around the first spot she poked on the table. "The Dominion fleet: crushed. The Protoss armada: crippled. The UED fleet: driven to rout. A crushing defeat for all of the Queen of Blades' remaining enemies which closed the Brood War for good. Ladies and gentleman." She surveyed the three people at her table. "Our situation has now become very hardcore."

The table was approached by the sound of a Vulture bike. They all looked in that direction, and saw Alexei Stukov parking it and lowering the kickstand. He then approached, and then took a spot at the rock.

"Alexei!" Saraslha greeted him with an exaggeratedly friendly tone. "Glad you could make it. Have you got a heck of a report to make, am I right?"

Stukov patted Lieutenant Benjamin on the shoulder, who in turn nodded and took a background spot behind him. "To start," Stukov said. "First there was this cavern full of green Ihan ore—"

"Let's start with why you're here, on this planet."

He looked off, and then looked toward Saraslha again. "Your mother."

Saraslha calmed, looked off, then looked toward Stukov again. "I see."

He raised an open hand, lifting his eyebrows.

"Yeah, alright. Continue your report."

* * *

**Some time before**

Alexei Stukov stood on Vaus' left shoulder, holding onto a spike coming out of the armored head shell containing his large neural cortex. They advanced up a winding freight tunnel, Vaus making long, powerful strides.

They were met with resistance. Moebius Marines, Marauders and Goliaths came out of the side passages in large teams, opening fire on the giant Zerg. Stukov charged his Corrosive Blast in his free infested arm, targeting the Goliath combat walkers and melting through their cockpit areas one by one, which crippled them and left them limp.

Vaus made broad slashes with his tusks one side at a time, throwing most of his immense body mass behind each sweep. The kinetic force of the dull, dense tusk blades caused them to bury inside the armored Marine and Marauder suits, killing the Terrans inside and throwing them into the opposite walls.

The tunnel echoed and rang with the sound of cumulative ballistic fire. Stukov and Vaus were showered with bullets from the Marines and Goliaths, and impact grenades from the Marauders. But Vaus' Ultralisk armor deflected the bullets and absorbed the explosions and shrapnel from the grenades. The Terrans could not do significant damage before he got close enough to sweep them aside by the bushel.

Stukov was a smaller target atop his shoulder, but took fire as well. His infestation was a powerful symbiont. The bullets that managed to puncture his skin were contained and ejected out the other side with minimal damage, and what damage did occur would heal quickly. He continued picking out large, distant targets for his Corrosive Blast.

At the end of the tunnel, the two emerged to an outdoor base. They were on the other side of the plateau from the cavern entrance Stukov had found. The base was surrounded and shadowed by a lush canopy of indigenous flora.

The place was in uproar. The sound of gunfire was everywhere. A group of siege tanks had been deployed in the center of the base, and they were firing their heavy guns outward at an unseen enemy.

Vaus spoke: _"My Brood has arrived. These Terrans will be slaughtered."_ Zerg had penetrated into the base. They rushed the defenders in the open, and surrounded its defensive bunkers to tear them apart.

Stukov wouldn't even try to talk the creature out of massacring the people who had held him captive and tortured him. Instead, he fired his next Corrosive Blast into the cluster of Siege Tanks. The projectile went through them in a straight line, taking several out of commission.

" _And now, Stukov…"_ Vaus walked calmly into the center of the base, not bothering to join the fight as his Brood rapidly annihilated the remaining Terrans. The cluster of Siege Tanks had been set upon, and were rapidly being cut to pieces and showered with acid. _"I must ask you a question, a question the answer to which I… am apprehensive."_

"Shoot," he said with his vocal voice.

He stopped walking. _"The Queen of Blades, where is she?"_

Stukov hopped off his shoulder, walked out in front of him, turned around and looked up into his eyes. "The answer to that question comes in the form of a story."

" _Tell me this story."_

Stukov beheld this creature. He sensed its intelligent brain; the brain of a Cerebrate. He sensed its psionic strength growing stronger as the drugs in its system thinned and dwindled. Saw its massive body, having merged with Torrasque. He thought of Saraslha; of giving her a worthy opponent. "It goes like this, Vaus: She's gone."

" _Gone…"_

"The Swarm is ruled by Zagara now. The Queen of Blades no longer exists."

There was a moment of idleness as Vaus processed this news. Loud, but natural breaths from his large lungs and breathing orifices were the only noise as the sound of what used to be a battle went silent. The Moebius remnants were eliminated, and his Brood flowed into the tunnel, to kill everyone remaining in the underground facility. _"The Terrans told me as much during my captivity. I did not believe them."_

"It's true," Stukov said. "Your energy is recovering. Do you sense her out there anywhere?"

" _Char is out of psionic range. I… cannot confirm your claim that way. But you would have no reason to lie."_

"What are you going to do?"

" _I sense the minds of pretenders; of independents controlling the Swarm on this planet. They think they are free of the Queen of Blades; I will show them they are not free of her protector."_

Stukov laughed a bit, amused at this. "You really are a crazy son of a bitch. Ever thought of changing your loyalties? Getting… I don't know, a different purpose?"

" _No."_ He answered firmly.

"She had you killed…" Stukov assumed this fact was enough. "…Why?"

Vaus turned his head, making physical eye contact with Stukov. _"You already know the answer to that question, Alexei Stukov. You knew it when your Admiral had you killed; did you resent him for this? Did it shake your loyalty to Earth?"_

Alexei Stukov's face relaxed, and he looked downward. "…No, to both of those."

" _Indeed,"_ Vaus was affirmed. _"The Queen made a mistake when she executed me. But that does not release me from my duty."_

"I believe… we may have a lot in common."

" _You are welcome to join me in this campaign, Stukov. You would be a great asset."_

What Vaus proposed was turning against Zagara, against the Swarm. He'd be joining the rebel side. As with all things most in his position would consider outrageous, Stukov found this idea amusing. He smiled, on one side of his mouth, looking down away from Vaus' eyes. "Sorry, I'll have to pass on that."

He walked past Stukov. _"The pretender, the one you call Zagara, must be destroyed. I will find her, and all those loyal to her, and there will be no mercy."_

"Alright then. You have fun with that." It was all set in place. Saraslha would fight this one next.

" _You released me from my captivity, and for that I am grateful."_

Stukov took out an old pocket watch, opening the cover to see its round clock. "Is that the time..? I've an appointment soon."

" _Farewell, Alexei. My Brood will let you be as you leave."_

* * *

"…then I went and got the Vulture I left in front of the cavern, and rode it back here."

"Let me get this straight." Saraslha was pinching the semi-flesh, semi-carapace skin on her forehead, something she started doing at the last third of his story. "You not only set this thing free, but withheld information from it, all in order to turn it against the Swarm. And you did this just so our current situation would happen; just so you could see me fight it?"

"It really wasn't hard." Stukov said. "Vaus is spring-loaded zealot. He just needed a push."

Saraslha pinched her forehead harder, and was breathing more heavily, looking at him up through a glaring brow. "You…" She growled this.

" _Try to calm yourself, my Princess."_ Rindell said.

"You… Jackass!" Saraslha jumped on the rock and ran across the top toward Stukov. Her motions were sudden, violent and rapid.

She tackled him. But she was barely half his body mass, and he didn't go down. She tried to claw him. "You sucky, sucky Stukov. You're a sucky Stukov!"

Stukov had caught her wrists as she tried to hit him. He was stronger than her, and only stepped back as she wrestled against him. He was composed as ever. "Calm yourself, little one."

Rindell came up behind Saraslha as she tried to out-arm strength Stukov. She approached tentatively, her claw hands out. "You, take her." Stukov moved Saraslha away from himself, far enough for Rindell to grab her.

Rindell circled her arms under Saraslha's in a full nelson hold. She was lifted up into the air, and Saraslha kicked wildly, glaring at Stukov as she tried to free herself from Rindell's hold. "I'm going to maroon you on an asteroid the size of my table, you… you…" Many long seconds, "sucky…" and she ran out of aggression, letting herself slacken. "…Okay… okay, Rindell. Let me go."

Rindell complied, and then Saraslha walked away a couple of paces, still breathing hard, fuming. Rindell was watching her closely, _"the Vice Admiral is not our enemy, my Princess."_

"I know." Saraslha said through her angry hyperventilating. "I didn't sic my Brood on him, did I?"

" _And regardless of the source, the present reality is we must deal with the Cerebrate Vaus and his Brood."_

Saraslha let out an especially hard exhale, "you're right…" She then wheeled around and pointed at Stukov. "You." Her face had suddenly become cold, sober, serious. "You're going to help me. Is that understood?"

He nodded without breaking his calm composure. "I'm at your disposal, little one."

Saraslha turned to the rock serving as her outdoor war room table, walking back to it. Nova was still there, watching with interest. "I apologize for that display," Saraslha said to Nova. "If you want to bail, I wouldn't blame you."

She shook her head. "No. I'm on your side in this." She looked at Stukov taking his spot at the table again. "I was going to infiltrate that place and kill the thing in its cage, until he set it loose. Now I'll have to kill it the hard way."

Stukov indifferently looked at his own infested hand, holding it up to his face and scratching his fingers with the other fingers. "You're a big girl. Something tells me you'll deal."

Saraslha was busily drawing a rough map into the creep of the table with the claw on her index finger. "Huddle in, people. I've thought of a plan."

"You thought of a plan during a temper tantrum?" Nova asked.

"Yes," she answered simply. "And it's solid gold, so listen close."

* * *

**Hours later**

In the later evening, after the weather had cooled, Nova was at a vantage point overlooking the length of a large ravine. The area she surveyed was thick with green flora on both high ground and low.

Donning her visor and switching it to thermal scan revealed a massive horde of heat signatures moving under the canopy. They entered through passes at the far end of the ravine from her, and were headed toward the high cliff on which she was situated.

" _They're coming through this ravine, just like she said."_ Nova spoke telepathically to her team of Ghosts. Black smoke rose into the air past the ravine in the distance. _"Maintaining flame walls in the alternate passes really worked."_

" _We need the ordnance. Now."_ One of the Ghosts said. They had all taken vantage points at different locations around the ravine.

Nova's communicator vibrated, and she pressed answer: _"Nuclear missiles ready."_ Came the simple report from Stukov. _"You have the launch codes."_

She became intent at this; excited. The horde of Vaus' Brood were halfway through the ravine. _"Now, reap the whirlwind."_

Every Ghost in her squad understood this code phrase. She leveled her canister rifle at a designated area, which was fast being approached by the Zerg. There was a keypad on the rifle which she interacted with telekinetically, holding the gun's sight straight with both hands. Through the scope, the area she aimed at was lit red by the rifle's User Interface.

Seconds, agonizingly long seconds of stillness before the hell. Sephulli was a mostly green planet with a blue sky. For a few seconds, it became a mostly orange planet with a dark sky. The ravine, the Brood passing through the ravine, were hit across their expanse with a rapid succession of six tactical nuclear missiles, each directed by a Ghost from a vantage point to a select area.

The advancing Zerg force had been completely annihilated. Nova looked down, and saw allied armies coming from the low ground to the left and right of her perch. They advanced through the cleared out ravine. Stukov's infested Terrans came from the left, and Rindell's Brood from the right. They easily wiped out the token number of survivors from the nuclear strike.

And then she saw something peculiar; something not in the plan. As they passed through the ravine, the two armies passed through each other, each filing through the other group. This carried on until the two armies fully switched places. After this, both forces advanced, taking passes out of the far end of the ravine which they'd exchanged.

"Switched at the last second…" Nova said aloud, frowning in thought at what she'd just observed below.

This means… _"Whatever Vaus throws at the Terrans will instead come up against Rindell's Brood, and the force he intends for Rindell will instead come up against the Terrans."_

* * *

" _That is correct, Nova. All warfare is based on deception."_ Saraslha was inside her Leviathan, inside its nerve center. The creature had fully developed, but was kept in its concealed spot near her main Hive Cluster. A Leviathan's brain was a much larger version of the Overlord's. It had the same flight instincts, the same transporter instincts, and it helped maintain control of her Brood.

Inside this nerve center, she could sense Rindell, Stukov, Nova, and all of their people. She also sensed Vaus' Brood. Her alliance and Vaus' Brood were about matched for numbers, but that nuclear strike had tipped the scale. She broadcast a message to her three commanders: _"All units, report."_

Rindell: _"I am advancing northeast, my Princess. Our foe's Hive Clusters there will soon be no more."_

Stukov: _"I'm sensing a strike force east of the ravine. We're digging in and letting them come to us."_

Nova: _"My team and I are relocating to the next area, over."_

Overqueen Zagara's non-aggression agreement with the Terran Dominion was not the same as an alliance. Nova was under no obligation to help them. Saraslha convinced her to stay and help on the grounds that the planet would end up turned over to the Dominion. Also it wouldn't be good to leave the job half-finished.

Saraslha sensed the other presence; the presence of Cerebrate Vaus. It was strong, and there was no ignoring it. It also sensed her, but did not say anything. That is, until this moment. The creature broke its silence: _"You direct these other minds, direct Alexei. And yet they are all stronger than you. Why is this so?"_

Saraslha was surprised at finally hearing his voice. She expected the voice of a Cerebrate to be alien and single-minded. This voice rang with experience, and the bearing of a heavy weight. _"Listen, we have no reason to be fighting. Let's talk this out."_

" _Are you Zerg?"_

" _Yes."_

" _Do you follow the Queen of Blades?"_

" _...No. But there's a reason for—"_

" _Then there is a reason for us to be fighting. I will accept no other ruler of the Swarm. And I will slaughter all dissidents in her name. Make of that what you will."_

" _But our current ruler was endorsed by the Queen of Blades; Zagara is her named successor."_

" _Be that as it may._ _This… is the only purpose left to me now. I was created specifically to protect her. I should have died when she killed me. But I survived, and have awoken to a world in which she no longer exists. This is all I have."_

Saraslha's brow relaxed. In the physical privacy of her Leviathan's nerve center. She felt she understood where he was coming from. _"Vaus…"_

His tone normalized again, and switched to anger; to determination. _"If you think what I am doing is wrong, then prove it. If you think I must be stopped, then kill me. Show me that the world she left behind is strong. Show me it is worthy of life."_

Saraslha clenched her teeth, glaring now. She was excited at this challenge, and allowed it to be the last word as she closed the connection with him. More Zerg of Vaus' Brood suddenly appeared on the live mapping provided by her web of watch posts. He was calling in his reserves.

" _My Princess, my resource gatherers are under attack."_

" _What!"_ Saraslha shifted her scope to Rindell's Hive Clusters. The Drones gathering resources were being rapidly killed off by projectiles fired at range. They came from Hydralisks in concealed positions behind the Mineral Fields.

Saraslha's own Hive Clusters were under similar attack. Her resource-gathering Drones were being killed. _"I don't understand… how did they get past my watch posts?"_

" _You are an amateur, little leader. A product of the current age."_ The message came from Vaus. _"I injected a long chain of your watch posts with parasites. They have not reported to you. And I quickly injected a large force into your territory via Nydus Canal."_

He still used Nydus Canals. The static, stationary precursor to Nydus Worms. She couldn't help but be amused at this. Vaus' Brood was practically an antique.

An antique that was wreaking havoc in she and her allies' bases.

"Oh, shoot, shoot, shoot…" Saraslha was hectic. Her own Brood was kept in reserve, concentrated at her main Hive Cluster. They dealt with the resource raiders there quickly. But all her other Clusters were still under attack.

" _Little one, Benjamin tells me our SCVs are being hit."_

" _I know!"_ She didn't think anything could get past her watch posts undetected, and therefore didn't have compunctions about committing everything to the advance. She had her own Brood in reserve, and quickly divided them up and sent them to every nearby Hive Cluster.

The damage was done. Even when her reserves would hunt down Vaus' raiding parties, the major blow to she and her allies' resource incomes will have been dealt.

And yet this too ended up denied to her. On their way to the other Hive Clusters, her reserves were ambushed by parties of Lurkers; burrowing Zerg that shot long chains of deadly spines out of the ground. There was no way to detect them underground without special detection; an Overlord or Spore Crawler, neither of which she sent with her divided reserve forces. These reserve forces were eliminated.

Slowly, the situation at each base was rectified by the production of new fighting units. But even more damage had been done, and it took time to find and kill Vaus' Nydus Canal.

Saraslha was curled in a ball, holding her own head in a vicegrip. How could she be so foolish? She knew her opponent's history, yet still she underestimated him.

" _What are your orders?"_ She didn't even discern who was asking.

" _Retreat."_ She said. _"Everyone, pull everything back."_ There was no way they could continue the advance. If the attack failed, they would be completely helpless with no backup and no defenses. She saw Vaus pulling ever more reserves from the ground along with hatching eggs. His control capacity was higher than hers and Rindell's put together.

"I have to… think of something…" She felt in a daze. Her plan had fallen apart; their advantage nipped off its base at the softest point. _"What was I thinking?"_ She asked this in her psionic voice by accident. If the Protoss armada, Dominion fleet and UED fleet together weren't enough to stop this thing in the Brood War, what made her think she could?

Vaus' Brood struck out of his territory, pursuing Saraslha's retreating armies.

This move caused her to snap into alertness. She leaned forward, seeing through the eyes of Overlords and watch posts. Something was off; not right. How would Vaus know so soon that her forces were retreating? They were all in marching between strategic areas when the order was given.

She looked down, at the biomass floor of the physical space she occupied. Her eyes darted in different directions, thinking, deducing.

* * *

It was twilight on the planet Sephulli. The sun was setting, and it was beginning to get dark.

Rindell, Stukov and their armies made it back to friendly territory with the enemy Brood nipping at their heels. The thundering blasts of Siege Tanks belonging to Stukov's swarm welcomed them as they entered the base serving as a defensive position. The heavy artillery pounded the enemy Zerg as they continued their relentless pursuit.

Stukov and Rindell turned around, and opened fire at the pursuers alongside an array of occupied Bunkers. Rindell threw her remaining Zerglings into the enemy to screen them and slow their approach. Another volley of Siege Tank blasts.

They destroyed the attacking force, but it was hardly a dent in the overall enemy number. Vaus had re-expanded to new resource nodes, and his forces continued to grow.

"I'm hoping the little one has a plan." Stukov said.

" _I have no doubts in the Princess. When my victory against her was assured, she was able to turn everything around. She is the strongest Zerg; stronger even than Vaus."_

"Do you think her plan involves a Leviathan?"

Rindell looked up, and saw the massive Zerg had flown out of its semi-concealed spot. In the dusk-lit sky, it was as a titanic shadow. _"My Princess, what are your orders?"_ She said to it, knowing her to be inside.

There was no reply. Complete psionic silence. Then, in monolith motion inherent to a being of its immense mass, the Leviathan gained speed, passing over them.

" _She's abandoning us."_ The voice came from Nova.

" _Shut your arrogant mouth, human."_ Rindell snapped.

But the Leviathan did ascend, entering the upper atmosphere of the planet. Its profile shrank as the distance grew and it entered orbit.

"That's… not good." Stukov said. "If the little one thinks it's a lost cause, it's a lost cause."

" _You guys do what you want."_ Nova said over long range communication. _"My team and I are laying low until the Dominion fleet arrives."_

" _I do not understand…"_ Rindell said aloud, looking at the horizon which Saraslha's Leviathan had vanished into. _"If she saw fit to abandon the planet, why would she not bring us along?"_

" _When have Zerg ever given a crap about other Zerg?"_ Nova replied to this. _"You animals literally eat your dead."_

" _You liked her, and her abandonment is getting to you."_ Rindell said to Nova. _"She must have liked you as well, since she offered you a place in the Swarm."_

" _Tch, whatever. I can't believe I took orders from that… child. She's either a complete coward, or doesn't give a crap about anyone."_

Alexei Stukov, ignoring their bickering in the calm after the defensive skirmish, calmly walked out of the base entrance.

" _Where are you going, Stukov?"_ Rindell asked after him.

He stopped, and turned. "I need some fresh air. I'm going for a walk."

Rindell was confused at this. _"We are at war, this is not the time for recreation."_

He nodded in concession to this as he walked away nonetheless, waving backward. "Benjamin's in charge of my army while I'm out."

* * *

**The Present**

Saraslha backed away from her mother a bit, her hands remaining on Zagara's sides. She looked up at her, her lower eyes still a bit damp. "I love you, mother." She said to her without reservation. "And I promise I'll tell you everything that's happened. The whole story, just you and me. But right now…" She looked up, past Zagara's head. Zagara looked that way as well.

Another Nydus Worm from the Leviathan had connected to an upper area of the main Hive Cluster. "That worm is going into my room. I'm just here to pick up some things."

Zagara looked down into her eyes again. _"What did happen on Sephulli, Saraslha?"_

She laughed a bit. "I can't tell you the story yet. Not until I have the whole thing." The worm retracted from the upper area of the Cluster, finished with its task. "I need to go now."

As Saraslha turned and half-jogged away, Zagara had a raised hand. _"When- when will you return?"_

"Real soon." Saraslha turned to face her from a distance, standing still and waiting for one of the Leviathan's Nydus Worms to pick her up. She was smiling as the Worm head came down and swallowed her.

As the Leviathan spurred into motion, turning and flying away, Zagara's raised hand lowered, ever so slowly. _"I… love you as well, Saraslha."_ She said privately, watching the flying mass shrink in the distance.

* * *

Alexei Stukov had made his way, alone and on foot, to Vaus' location. The location was a hilltop, illuminated by the light of the planet's full moon in the night sky. Vaus' Brood did not attack as Stukov approached the massive Ultralisk-Cerebrate.

" _What is the purpose of your visit, Alexei?"_

He stopped in front of Vaus about five meters away. "I'm here to do something I may end up regretting."

" _Have you reconsidered my offer?"_

He inhaled, but then exhaled equally as hard. "No. I'm here to fight you."

" _Your small commander has abandoned you."_

Stukov had a flask of vodka out. "Be that as it may, it does not release me from my… duties." He took a drink.

" _You…"_ His tusks moved inward and outward in a gesture. _"Would make a worthy opponent. I assume one on one?"_

"Yes," he put his flask away. "And while we're fighting, your Brood will not attack my allies."

" _Agreed. I wish to allocate all of my focus against you."_

"Vaus… if your queen saw your actions now." It was entirely probable she did. "I think she would appreciate your loyalty; credit you for it, but then she would release you from your obligations."

" _That is… a kind sentiment, Alexei. But it is impossible to know her mind now."_

This was true, even given Vaus' ignorance as to the exact nature of her fate. Stukov charged a Corrosive Blast. "Shall we begin?"

" _Yes!"_ With alarming immediacy, Vaus brought both his long tusks to inward swings upon Stukov.

He'd leaped backward, evading the deadly enclosure. The tusks of an ordinary Ultralisk were dangerous enough, but Vaus' body was that of the original Torrasque. He let loose his Corrosive Blast directly into Vaus' main body.

The Blast had stopping power, and an involuntary roar of pain came out of Vaus' orifices.

Stukov dodged the next full-body swing by ducking. He continued moving backward, trying to keep distance. Vaus pursued, trotting on his emphasized legs and avoiding a full-speed gallop which could not make tight turns.

As they circled the moonlit hilltop, Stukov keeping distance, Vaus pursuing, Vaus unleashed a Psionic Lash, which Stukov narrowly dodged. His next Corrosive Blast was ready, and he fired it again.

Vaus' tusks came in on him again, immediately following the Psionic Lash and retaliatory Corrosive Blast. With no time to move after dodging the psionic attack and then firing his blast, he caught both tusks out in his hands.

The tusks were dull; designed as kinetic impact weapons which would not get stuck in metal or bone. It became a contest of raw strength as Vaus brought his tusks in to crush Stukov, who was holding them out in his hands.

Stukov saw the two gaping wounds on Vaus' main body, caused by his Corrosive Blasts. They were slowly ejecting the acidic material, and regenerating the wounds. As these wounds recovered, the muscle power behind his tusks increased.

He buckled as he tried to keep the tusks enclosing on him. Psionic energy gathered outside Vaus' skull; he had enough charge for another Psionic Lash.

Stukov's next Corrosive Blast was ready. The tusks had dug deep pits into his palms, even with their dullness. Stukov wrapped his clawed, infested left hand around that tusk, and fired the blast.

The Tusk was eaten through near his hand, and then the broken appendage swung past in front of him. With his right hand still lodged in its tusk, he leaped leftward, supported by its inward swing. Vaus' Psionic Lash missed.

And then Stukov was impaled. On one of the two smaller bone blades under the larger set. Vaus had lunged forward and ran him through with one of his shorter, pointed tusks. Stukov groaned a bit at this predicament as he was lifted into the air by this skewer. He laughed a bit. "Is that… Is this what I've been doing to enemies at close range..?" He laughed a bit more; pained laughter. "By the Zerg's Goddess it hurts like a son of a bitch."

Vaus leveled his larger tusks at Stukov's upper body, and brought them out in preparation for an inward swing. Stukov was in reach of the broken off one as well. Even impaled and suspended in the air, he brought his hands up and caught the larger tusks. "You're really... going to make this difficult, aren't you? You crazy son of a bitch."

" _You're holding out quite well, I must say."_ Vaus remarked.

" _Stop!"_ The voice was that of a third party.

Saraslha's Leviathan was back. It had homed in on the site of the duel, coming to idle as a looming presence near it. It was not attacked by Vaus' Brood per his standing order not to attack during the duel. Saraslha continued speaking, in a loud, amplified psionic voice from inside her Leviathan: _"Stukov, tag me in, quickly!"_

"Tag you in…" Stukov said aloud as he held Vaus' large tusks away while impaled in the air. "Are you out of your damn mind? He'll kill you like a drowned puppy."

" _Listen to your friend, little leader."_ Vaus said to Saraslha. _"You would hold out poorly against me."_

" _Stukov."_ Saraslha said forcefully. _"Checkmate in two. Two! Do you understand?"_

Stukov slowly caught on to this. He looked up at Vaus. "Is tagging in allowed?"

He could practically sense Vaus rolling his eyes. _"I am nothing if not a good sport. If your little leader wishes to throw her life away, I will not refute."_

A Nydus Worm came down, and dropped Saraslha on the hilltop. She was holding what looked like a cluttered set of steel bands and locks, with mechanisms at some of the joints which displayed unlit transparent surfaces.

Vaus flung Stukov off his smaller tusk, causing him to drop and roll across the ground, grunting as it happened. _"What is that you're holding?"_ he said as he walked up to Saraslha, superimposing his giant mass over her puny form. One of his tusks had been broken off, and he was injured from Stukov's Corrosive Blasts, but he was still significantly stronger than her.

"Oh, this?" She held it up in both hands. It dangled and swayed; almost a tangled mess. "This is a Psi-Insulator. Once I get it around your big head, you'll no longer be a threat to me, or my people."

Vaus laughed at this. _"And you just tell me what it does? Have you no tact; I will not let it near my cranium now."_

Saraslha suddenly had a low, almost evil look. "I don't need tact now, Vaus. I've already won."

Vaus was about to chop her in half with a full-body slash of his unbroken large tusk. But his body did not respond. He was able to raise it outward, but it took an exorbitant amount of time for it to do so. _"What… what is going on?"_ He swung his tusk at her, but the motion was sluggish; she simply ducked, and walked under it as it passed overhead.

No part of him was responding with any reliability. And when it did, it was slow.

"You see, Vaus. I know that the brains of you and that Torrasque aren't merged. You've got two in there; one bigger than the other for sure, and right next to each other, but still two and separate. You're controlling that body the same way you control your other Brood." Saraslha walked calmly to his side, and climbed up his body, holding the dangling Psi-Insulator out with one hand and climbing with her other.

Vaus recognized this weakness; this lack of control. _"The… Psi-Disruptor was destroyed. How is there one here?"_ It also kept him from getting an order out to his Brood; their standing order not to attack stood.

Saraslha continued climbing up his unresponsive, sluggish body. "You're not with the times, Vaus. The Terrans rediscovered the technology, and brought a heaping ton of them along in their invasion of Char, during the Second Great War. I found one, and fixed it up by taking parts from the other ones. Once I found the schematics in the database of an abandoned Command Center, it was easy." Her Leviathan contained a Psi-Disruptor. And she had it activated as soon as Vaus accepted her tag-in. "I'm telling you all this because there's no way for you to beat me now."

" _You're… cheating."_

"No doubt." She got atop his shoulder, and placed the set of linked cage-like objects on his head, orienting them around its ovular shape and clicking the locks together. The devices on the joints were activated by Vaus' own psionic energy, and began to light.

Stukov had gotten on his feet, and approached the scene. There was naught he could do but watch as the small, weak being rendered the large, powerful one completely helpless.

And there was nothing Vaus could do but try sluggishly to move around as Saraslha completed the encasement of the Psi-Insulator around his skull. Once it was set and fully active, Vaus' body went limp and collapsed.

"I have a question." Stukov said as he walked up to examine her handiwork, standing next to her as she hopped off the shoulder. "Why didn't you tell anybody your plan? Everybody was… is, kind of mad at you."

"He could hear all of our communications." She explained. "I don't know how, and I plan to interrogate him on it, but every psionic message sent between you, me, Rindell and Nova; Vaus had an ear to all of them. I couldn't tell you guys anything because I couldn't have him knowing I was up to something."

Stukov nodded at this. "Clever. He listens in on our talking about you abandoning us, and then genuinely believes you were running away, not going to fetch some tools."

"Yeah…" Saraslha was scratching behind her head. "I hope Rindell and Nova aren't too upset with me."

"Rindell didn't believe you abandoned her for a second. And Nova… You did what you had to. She can relate to that."

A Nydus Worm had come down from the Leviathan. It came over the Limp, motionless Vaus, and get its mouth around him before sucking him up its esophagus.

"I have to ask, Alexei… And don't take it the wrong way."

"What?"

"Why… are you so supportive toward me?"

He turned around, toward the Leviathan. "I believe you've asked this question before."

"Yes, but now it's serious. I really want to know." She walked up to stand next to him.

He took a deep breath. His injuries from Vaus had recovered, leaving only the damage to his clothes. "You know… that I am originally from Earth, yes?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

"I have a family on Earth; children, who I am never going to see again; can never see again. I'm certain they're alive right now, living their lives without me. Far as they know… I am deceased."

Saraslha felt touched by this story. "I can't imagine what it's like to lose one's family."

Stukov looked down at her face. "Hopefully you will never have to learn, little one." His own damaged, aura-riddled face had a warm smile.

Saraslha returned the expression, her eyes beaming.

Promptly, Stukov walked ahead of her. "Have your thing pick us up now, eh? Vaus' Brood is all over; we'd best not stick around."

"Of course," still smiling, she had the Leviathan lower another Nydus Worm as she came up next to him. "It's a good thing I swooped in to save your arse, eh?" She said, imitating his accent.

"Ahh," he waved it off. "I had him on the ropes."

She maintained her smile as the Nydus Worm swallowed them both in quick succession.


	6. The Defiant

Zagara had followed Saraslha to planet Sephulli with an army that numbered in the millions. In the morning following Saraslha's victory over Vaus, Zagara's massive brood flooded the orbit over the planet.

At around the same time, the Dominion fleet arrived. Its commander and Zagara established contact, and no fire was exchanged.

* * *

Saraslha was walking through a corridor of her Leviathan. The creature was situated in the heart of her allies' territory, safe from Vaus' once again aimless Brood. She sensed her mother's massive swarm, as well as the Dominion Fleet holding orbit. Zagara's own Leviathan was coming in, entering the upper atmosphere of the planet.

"This planet is starting to feel like a crime scene." She said aloud to herself. She was approaching a specific section of the giant creature's interior: the holding cells.

A female voice was heard around the next bend, "You're getting on my nerves, bug-brain. The creature needs to be killed."

Rindell's voice replied to this: _"On this vessel, you will do nothing without the Princess' leave, Nova."_

Saraslha approached, and was noticed by both of them. They were standing in a broader hub space surrounded by cells. "Saraslha," Nova said to her. "Please tell me you plan on killing the damn thing."

She crooked her head, "what thing?"

"Vaus, the Cerebrate. Nice and chained and psi-insulated in your holding cell."

Rindell rebutted again. _"He is a Zerg, Nova, and will face Zerg judgement, not yours."_

Saraslha stood across from the two of them. "I'm actually kind of hoping to convince him to join me."

"Well then allow me to share a bit of input?" Nova was tense; impatient. She looked toward Saraslha intently.

She shrugged. "Go ahead, make your case."

Nova swallowed. "That thing is a liability. There's a reason the Queen of Blades killed them off. Cerebrates have a hierarchical hard-wiring." She looked at Rindell. "If there is no Overmind, a Cerebrate will look for a way to become, or create a new one."

Saraslha was cleaning her ear with a claw. "You're talking like it's a stone-set cause and effect; no free will involved."

"I'm describing the risk." Nova said. "Why would you even try to win him over? He tried to kill us all. In fact, he still wants to."

"If I can win him over…" Saraslha had her hands clasped behind her back, looking downward with a slightly pained expression. "Then… I won't have to kill him, or any more of his Brood. No more killing, do you understand?" Her gaze leveled, looking at Rindell and Nova, her face became more strained. "Ever since coming to this planet, I've seen my kind killing others of my kind; trying to wipe them out like there was something defective about them that merited extinction. I hate it!" She shouted the last sentence.

Rindell looked away, she had no words.

"Saraslha…" Nova was frowning gently, "you're… still a child. You don't understand that some people are beyond saving. You have to eliminate these people, or they'll eliminate the things you care about. Vaus said he wanted to kill your mother."

"And that makes it okay for me to sink to that level?"

"Yes." Nova said matter-of-factly. "Yes it does."

" _The human makes a persuasive argument, my Princess."_ Rindell said. _"The Swarm does not need another Overmind."_

"He's loyal to the Queen of Blades, and would never make an Overmind. I'm not going to kill him for resisting me because of that very integrity." Saraslha was stoic; defiant. "Is that understood?"

Nova looked upward, groaning in frustration. Her head snapped forward again. "Fine. But if you're going in there to talk, I'm going with you, alright?"

Saraslha suddenly had a bright, optimistic smile. "Your accompaniment is always welcome, Ghost lady." She turned to Rindell. "What about you?"

" _Yes. You will require a guard in the company of that prisoner."_

Saraslha didn't object to this as she walked past them. They entered a large solitary confinement cell. Its floor, and domed walls and ceiling were made of solidified bone. The dome was in two layers, which rotated in opposite directions to create an opening which allowed Saraslha and party inside.

A light-producing organ hanging from above illuminated the prisoner. His massive body was tied down at nearly every point by thin, but dense tentacles coming out of the flat floor. The tensile strength of these tentacles was immense; Vaus would not be strong enough to break them. The natural, unconscious breaths of his Ultralisk body were crisply audible in the bone-like containment cell.

Saraslha walked up close to Vaus, close to his large head. The Psi-Insulator was secured around it, and fully active. She found a regulator knob on one of its lit apparatus, and turned it down slightly. "There," she said. "Now you should be able to talk."

" _I can indeed."_ Vaus was still limp and tied down, but his voice was clear as day. _"I assume such is the purpose of your visit."_

Saraslha backed away to be next to Rindell and Nova. "I'd like to continue from our original discussion.

" _Continue?"_

"Yes." She said. "When we first talked, you asked me why my allies took orders from me, in spite of the fact that…" She looked right and left at Rindell and Nova next to her. "They're stronger than me."

" _I do remain curious of this. The Queen of Blades had immense power; you're a weakling."_

Saraslha's face had no tension, and she spoke with a light, matter-of-fact ease, "they followed me because I made them even stronger."

" _You make them…"_ Vaus processed this.

"And I would make you stronger as well, if you would join me."

" _I cannot do that."_

"I'm offering you something to gain, Vaus. Under me, you'll be truly invincible."

" _Power is meaningless to a traitor. I follow the Queen of Blades."_

"You'll still be following her, alongside the rest of the Swarm. She wouldn't want you to kill us simply because she's not around any longer."

" _You do not speak for her, little leader."_

"But her actions do speak for her. If she desired that the Swarm not live on, don't you think she would have destroyed it herself?"

" _Did she have this choice?"_

Saraslha was reminded that Vaus still didn't know the exact nature of his master's fate. Perhaps he didn't want to know. "Vaus… she's not really dead. The opposite, in fact."

" _What is the story you hint at?"_

Rindell stepped forward. _"She is a god now; our God. Zagara leads the Swarm, but the Zerg all remain faithful followers of the Queen of Blades."_

"Do you understand now?" Saraslha said. "Your desire to wipe us out is nothing but a crutch for your weakness. The Queen of Blades went away, and you've failed to adapt to that."

" _Be that as it may,"_ he conceded. _"I can follow no other."_

What a brick-brain… Saraslha thought as she rubbed a hand over her face. "Alright, I'm going to leave you alone now. Know that I cannot release you unless I can be sure you won't be a threat to my people."

Vaus did not reply as the three turned, and exited the cell. Its layers opened, then rotated shut behind them as the light inside dimmed.

They stopped outside the cell, in the hub room connected to a circle of other cells, as well as narrow passes into other hub rooms of the prison section. Nova spoke: "I get that you care about your fellow Zerg, Saraslha. Ordinary Terrans are the same way about members of their own species…"

"There's going to be a 'but' next, right?' Saraslha was looking down at the biomass flooring.

"But," she continued. "If you can't kill the ones who pose a danger to those you care about, then you've no business caring at all."

"Killing him would be a pain in the hiney job." Saraslha said, her head turned to look at Nova detachedly. "It's not like you can just shoot him. Cerebrates are notoriously hard to kill."

"I know," Nova said. "My plan is to ship him to the Daelaam. They'll do the job good and right."

"And you're certain your shipment won't be intercepted by some other opportunist in some other part of Dominion Space, interested in cloning them some Cerebrates?"

"I'm going to guard the shipment myself." Nova said. "He won't leave my sight until the Daelaam have destroyed him."

A new voice interjected: _"I assume you speak of the leader of the Renegades?"_ It was Zagara.

Saraslha sensed Zagara's Leviathan having situated itself next to her own. There was a connection via Nydus Worm. Zagara entered the prison hub chamber on her formation of legs. "Mother!" She greeted cheerily. "You're late to the party. Our discussion is about cleanup."

Zagara stopped close to the trio, and looked at Nova. _"What is your name, human?"_

"Nova, your majesty." She lowered her head in a slight, courteous bow. "A Dominion Ghost. I helped your daughter against the Renegade Cerebrate."

" _I thought I sensed a Cerebrate."_ Zagara next looked at Rindell. _"And why is it you're here, Broodmother Rindell?"_

"She's with me." Saraslha stepped between them. "She came trying to kill me, I cooked her alive, we had a talk, and now she's my gal." She looked back at Rindell. "You my gal?"

" _I'm your gal."_

"She's my gal."

Zagara was visibly surprised. _"You not only defeated a Broodmother, but secured her allegiance."_

"Yeah, it's quite the story."

" _And you can share it with me in due time, daughter. For now, let us remain focused on business."_

She nodded, "of course. We were just discussing what to do with the Cerebrate."

" _Where is Stukov?"_

"He said he needed a nap." Saraslha explained. "He's somewhere upstairs, catching some Z's."

" _And what do you plan to do with the Cerebrate, Saraslha?"_ Zagara was genuinely curious, wanting to know her thoughts.

To this, she took a deep breath, "I kill him, and killing off his Brood becomes easy. But if I can convince him to join me, getting his Brood off the planet will be even easier. And much quicker."

Zagara shook her head. _"I am under no pressure to clear off this planet, daughter. The Dominion force is concentrated on the remains of a base of Moebius remnants. They've cleared the renegades form that area, and are investigating it."_

"So then… why did you come all the way out here?" Saraslha asked.

Zagara looked off, sobered. _"I sent you here, out of psionic range of Char, out of my sight. For a span of time I did not know your state, or what you were doing."_

"You sent Stukov to shadow me. That counts for something." Saraslha's eyebrows raised a little.

" _I regret my decision."_ Zagara said. _"I am here to support you, Saraslha, for the rest of your mission here."_

" _The Princess wishes to bring the Cerebrate into the Swarm, and not kill him."_ Rindell said to Zagara.

"If she resorts to killing the creature, I've volunteered to ship him to the Daelaam." Nova said.

Zagara turned to Saraslha. _"He is your prisoner, Saraslha. Do you truly think he can be won over?"_

She was frowning with thought. "He's loyal to the Queen of Blades. I've talked to him, and tried to use that as leverage to convince him to rejoin the Swarm. I mean, she's our god, isn't she? There's no reason not to think he and us have that in common."

Zagara began to laugh, and as she processed this, she laughed harder, in a joyous, lighthearted way. _"You still have much to learn, my child. The Zerg do not lead by persuasion. They lead by force of will."_ She looked toward Rindell. _"You follow my daughter because she broke you and beat you. Is that correct?"_

" _Indeed, Overqueen."_ Rindell answered. _"Saraslha is the strongest Zerg, second to you. She is worthy of my service."_

Saraslha shrank down a bit, her eyes getting a little beady. "But I did beat Vaus…"

" _Not completely."_ Zagara said. _"Evidently, he still feels he can resist."_

"I get where you're going with this…" Saraslha said.

" _Place him outside, on the open ground."_ Zagara said. _"This… stray, must be taught a lesson."_ She turned to leave.

"What exactly does this entail..?" Nova asked.

" _Zagara is going to show us why she's the overqueen."_ Rindell answered.

Nova pointed toward the direction in which Zagara left, looking toward Saraslha. "Is she really your mother? Like, your biological mother?"

"Yep," she said lightly. "She laid an egg, and I hatched from that egg. And no, before you ask, I don't have a father."

"But… you don't look anything alike."

"I was intelligently designed." Saraslha said, frowning now. "What are you going to say next? That it's weird? That it isn't natural? Speak your mind, Nova."

Nova just shook her head. "I was going to say that she seems to genuinely care about you. It's odd to see a Zerg behave in a way that's… human."

Saraslha had a light smile at this. "She declared peaceful intentions toward your people, Nova. What do you think is her plan behind that?"

"I now think she might really mean it."

Rindell interjected, _"Yes, the Overqueen can be caring and gentle. Now, let us observe what happens to her enemies."_

"It'll be entertaining to see, for sure," Saraslha said. She gave a mental command, and Vaus' cell opened fully on one half. A Nydus Worm came down from the top of the hub chamber, and went into the open cell to begin wrapping its mouth around Vaus as the binding tentacles loosened and receded back into the bone flooring. "You have no idea what you're in for, Vaus ol' buddy." Saraslha was shaking her head.

Once Vaus was sent through the Worm's esophagus, the Worm turned its head toward Saraslha. Rindell went in first, and Saraslha gestured toward Nova.

Nova backed a step, raising her hands. "No thanks, I'll take the long way."

"Come on," Saraslha was rolling her eyes. "A Nydus Worm wouldn't hurt a fly. Try not to breathe or move around and you'll be fine."

"You seriously want me to get swallowed by that thing, like a Zerg."

Saraslha sighed, shaking her head. "You're a long way from being a Broodmother, Nova."

"I don't want—" Saraslha had already been swallowed by the Worm before she could retort. "…To be political."

Vaus was dropped into a clearing beneath the two Leviathans, near Saraslha's main Hive Cluster. The Psi-Insulator around his head kept him from doing anything, and he remained limp.

Zagara was there, and she was joined by Rindell, and then Saraslha coming out of the same Nydus Worm as Vaus. Nova was a distant third, having worked up her nerves and allowed the creature to swallow her. When she landed on her feet in the creep spread of the nearby Cluster, her arms were wrapped around herself and she walked tightly and briskly over to the group.

Saraslha put a hand on her shoulder, smirking. "Well done, Nova. You did a fine job, a fine job."

Nova twitched, still somewhat unnerved. "Don't patronize me, Saraslha."

"Aww, I'm just congratulating you. I always knew Nydus Worms were safe for humans."

She suddenly had a glare. "You didn't know?!"

" _Saraslha."_ Zagara said. _"Please remove the… restraining apparatus from the Cerebrate."_

"You sure about that, mother?" Saraslha had turned away from the worked up Nova, and was looking in Zagara's direction. "I gotta warn ya, he's crazy strong. There's a reason Stukov is having himself a nap right now."

" _I am aware of this, daughter. Do it anyway."_

Tentatively, Saraslha aimed her hand at one of the insulators welded onto the metal framework of the homemade device. Her weak psionic bolt was enough to fry its circuits. With this gap in the device's insulation, Vaus' energy escaped his brain mass. The escaped energy gripped the steel cage, and ripped it in half and in opposite directions.

" _I am Zagara, overqueen of the Zerg Swarm"_ Zagara said to Vaus as he got back on his feet, once again in control of his body. _"The Swarm is a unified being. As a Zerg, you may not exist outside it."_

" _I… cannot obey you."_ Vaus said. " _I only serve the Queen of Blades."_

" _I serve her as well,"_ Zagara said. _"She handed rule of the Swarm to me."_

" _Then you rule in her place."_ Vaus said. _"I acknowledge you as Leader of the Swarm. But I will not be a part of that Swarm."_

" _Then you will be broken!"_ Zagara's energy became prevalent. It made the air thicker, the morning light of the planet darker. A slight crater formed in the earth around her as the topsoil condensed. Vaus' large body was lifted into the air, his limbs restrained and his motions restricted as Zagara's overpowering psi energy imposed itself on him.

" _I cannot..."_ His own psi shot out of his physical being, resisting, rebelling against Zagara's power. A broad outburst of his own now unrestricted energy pushed away Zagara's at every angle around him. He could move again, and lowered back to the ground. _"I… will not… submit!"_ Three simultaneous Psionic Lashes were fired from the shell around his brain mass.

" _Fool."_ Zagara let these Lashes through at three points in her energy enclosure. They coned outside of it, spraying into the air above and wasted. Her psionic grip enclosed again over Vaus. He was grappled, and turned to a muscularly painful position. His feet remained on the ground as he was pinned into it. _"Change your arrogance, Cerebrate, or it will kill you."_

Zagara was an entire league stronger than Vaus. Saraslha did not see the faces of Rindell or Nova, but she knew that they would not speak, would not remark, and would not get involved. They would not look away.

* * *

It was the end of the line. Vaus had awoken after a long dormancy, and then was imprisoned. He only escaped with the help of another. And when he challenged the Swarm as it was; only a part of it, he was soundly beaten by a small being.

And now, when released and given a chance to challenge the being who had replaced his queen, he was outmatched, and about to be torn apart. His mind went to the small being who had placed the Insulator on him. She had offered him a chance to live; to rejoin the Swarm. And it was thanks to her that this offer was still available.

Perhaps this was to be. Perhaps random circumstance had a meaning in itself, and he was meant to submit, and live on with a changed allegiance; as a shifted being.

"… _No."_ He said aloud to his own thought. _"I will never turn away from the Queen; from my purpose. I will never be shifted."_ Zagara's psionic grip intensified. He would be executed for this refusal. The tendons and muscle tissue inside his body were being severed. Internal bleeding flooded his innards.

"Stop it, you're killing him!"

" _It must be done. If allowed free, he will kill all in his path of senseless rage."_

He could see… not Zagara, or the small one, her general, her human ally, or the lush, green planet he'd found himself emerging to. But rather…

The stairs were rigid, and hard, but also modest in size. To the flanks of this stairway, the space was filled with matter, light grey stone, with green vines and flowers of bright and expressive color.

He was surrounded in a clearing by a forest lush with life, sounds of nature and warmth. It was even thicker than that of Sephulli, and very different. The flowers, the sound, and the fauna were distinct.

He peered upward through the eyes of his controlled body, up the steps. At the top of these steps, past it all, past flanks of life and color, he saw her, and all tension around his physical eyes evaporated.

She wore a plain, flowing white dress, which seemed to deny any expression of color of its own, but rather accepted light from the surrounding life, while still maintaining its distinct, pure lack of pigment. She looked one hundred percent human with a natural face and glowing orange hair, but he knew it was her; the mental pattern was unique and unmistakable. "My Queen." He lowered his gaze. "I have failed, my death is imminent soon. However…" He continued speaking, "The ones who have beaten me are faithful to you. I can attest that they will be of great utility—"

He was cut off by another male voice, from out of view. "Your patience really is getting generous, Sarah. You're letting him get unsettled."

"He's entitled to say his piece, Jim." She said. "We must never talk down to others, any more than we can allow ourselves to be talked down to." Her footsteps were audible on the hard steps.

Vaus lifted his gaze, and noticed that she had come down the steps far enough to be at level eye contact with his elevated head. "I wish to say a few things." She said, "If you wouldn't mind."

"Of course, my Queen."

She nodded. "You were, for a long time my most powerful asset, Vaus. My greatest protector, both inside my Chrysalis and outside. You destroyed my enemies without restraint, and always placed my safety above all else." Her hand reached out. It did not reach his monster-like face, but he nonetheless felt it. "What I did to you, executing you, throwing you out as though you would turn on me. This was a mistake."

Hearing this acknowledgement caused a huge weight to be lifted from his mind. He felt an immense relief.

The male voice spoke to Vaus, "In the future, you're gonna learn some history about another invasion of Char. If you had been around then, you'd have ripped me a new one."

She smiled. "I'm glad you've survived all these years, and yet live on." She looked off, smiling a bit more, "life can be a very powerful thing, Jim."

"I hear you," he said. "Even when it's beat and gone, there's always some part that refuses to give up, some part that can never be taken."

"It is apparent…" Vaus' thinking mind was active. "That you are no longer in need of my protection, my Queen."

"That's correct." She said, nodding. "I opened this communication to you in order to say that I release you from my service. You're free, Vaus."

He felt overwhelmed by this. "I… am not certain what to do."

"You have a plan in place to escape from Zagara. If my mental count and memory are correct, it only needs a few more seconds." She spoke of the physical space he occupied; his situation. Time had slowed to a crawl during their conversation.

"No, I meant…" He meant the big picture.

She had nothing to say to this. The vision began to fade, and time began returning to its normal pace as his actual surroundings became real again. The male voice said something, just before the vision left completely. "Your life is your own. She'd want you to live it."

* * *

Zagara was doing the only rational thing left, Saraslha was aware of this. Vaus had refused to submit, and he could not be allowed to go free. She twisted his Ultralisk body, bending it into an unnatural, immovable position. Saraslha saw Nova next to her with a radio out. Once Vaus' body was sufficiently broken, she would call for transport, and have the remains shipped to the Daelaam, whom would ensure that a reincarnation would not occur.

" _This is your final moment of consciousness, Cerebrate. Have you any last words?"_ Zagara said.

"… _No."_

A Nydus Canal shot out of the Creep from underneath Vaus. Its mouth-like entrance formed around him, and even without control of his body, it was able to grip and swallow him.

Zagara's energy, deprived of a target, imploded in the area next to the Nydus Canal. Just after swallowing Vaus, the Canal entrance was killed and the ground around it blasted.

" _A Nydus Canal?"_ Zagara was audibly surprised. _"How can that be?"_

Saraslha was equally shocked by what happened. "He…" She blinked, realizing what happened. "He was hiding the lump under his belly as the canal exit developed." Her hand was on her forehead, and her brow was a distressed glare. "How could I have been so stupid?" When the Psi Insulator had been taken off his skull, he had regained control of his Brood. A Nydus Canal could form its counterpart on any Creep, regardless of who it belonged to. "And now, Vaus could be kilometers away."

" _He will not get far."_ Zagara announced. Her gigantic Swarm in orbit was coming into the upper atmosphere. Its sheer number choked the morning light in the sky with a sense of unnatural night.

Saraslha had walked over to the broken off halves of her Psi Insulator, picking them up and looking at how much of a lost cause repairing it would be. "No… no… no…" Everything had been undone. "I have to beat him all over again…" He would be ready for her previous trick if she tried it again. "I have to… I have t—"

Zagara had come up from behind, placing a claw hand on her shoulder. _"I apologize, my child. This was my blunder. I asked you to remove the imprisoning device from his head."_

Saraslha became aware that her mother was present, with her massive swarm descending onto the planet. It was a source of help which a large part of her did not want to use. Saraslha's face twisted, and she scrunched her head. "You're not… disappointed in me?"

Zagara grabbed her around the waist, hugging her close from behind and rustling the short hair-cords on Saraslha's head with her other hand in an act of horseplay. _"…Nope!"_ Zagara said. _"I can't say I'm disappointed in you. Should I be?"_

This lighthearted response from her mother erased all tension from Saraslha's mind. She reached up, grabbing part of the diadem on Zagara's head, and easily pulled herself off the ground with one arm. Saraslha turned around gripping Zagara's head protrusions, propping her feet on her front body and smirking with their faces level. "Well I'm afraid I must express some level of disappointment in you, mother. Letting that Cerebrate get away, after all the trouble I went through catching him."

Zagara picked her up under her arms. They both laughed as they continued to mess around.

"Um…" Nova had a hand up, watching them going at it. "Shouldn't we be worried? Vaus is out there again."

" _It is of no concern."_ Zagara said to her while turning her head in that direction. Saraslha was dangling off one side of it, her feet just off the ground. _"The Brood I brought with me is ten times the number of his. He will not last."_

"Okay… And what's the plan for what to do with him?"

" _Yes… you're right."_ Zagara caught a midair kick thrown by Saraslha, trying to talk at the same time. _"Your services may be required in that regard. The Daelaam would not be receptive to a group of Zerg trying to give them a Cerebrate. Your people should make the delivery."_

"You've a keen sense of diplomacy, your majesty."

Saraslha had thrown another kick with her free foot, which Zagara also caught. She became absorbed in playing with her again. _"I could flip this entire hill on you if I wanted!"_ Saraslha was laughing.

"Um, okay." Nova just watched them continue to horseplay. "I'll be… ah," she looked at Broodmother Rindell. "Can you… call me, once they've caught the Cerebrate?"

Rindell looked off without speaking, then looked at Nova again, and nodded twice.

"Great," she had her hands up, and walked away backwards. Rindell turned her head, staring at her. "I'll be over with the Dominion force, seeing about borrowing a Battlecruiser."

Rindell processed this for a second, and then nodded again.

* * *

Zagara's Swarm overwhelmed that of Vaus. Even with his newly won freedom, he was surrounded by Zerg landing on the planet at all sides of his territory.

" _You brought this on yourself, Vaus."_ Saraslha knew his imprint, and was speaking to him psionically over distance. " _I wanted you to live."_

" _I am aware of this."_ Vaus said as he moved rapidly through the thick green flora of the planet. He and his Brood were in fighting retreat, being slowly ground away by Zagara's superior numbers. _"Your mother is quite powerful, little leader. Even stronger than the Queen of Blades during the Brood War."_

" _So what's your plan?"_ Saraslha asked. _"This isn't like Char Aleph. You have no maneuvering room."_

" _An unwinnable battle is not the same as a lost one. I will escape this planet."_ In their retreat, Vaus' Brood had to contend constantly with Zagara's forces coming from behind, their flanks, and landing in front of them from orbit.

" _Let's say you do escape. Do you plan on coming back later to wipe out the Swarm?"_

" _That is no longer my intent."_ Vaus said. _"The Queen has given me an order, though I've yet to decipher what it is. This order overrides my autonomous choice."_

" _I hope you realize I can't believe anything you say. This could be a ruse, to trick us into letting up on you."_

" _Of course. I would be just as untrusting of my enemy in your shoes."_

" _It's not even believable. The Queen of Blades said something to you? It sounds like something out of an old story."_

" _It is my own belief I act upon, not yours."_ Vaus' Brood reached the shoreline of one of the planet's expansive bodies of water; an ocean.

" _Looks like you cornered yourself, Vaus me old mate."_ Saraslha said.

All along the shoreline, dozens of Nydus Canals came out of the sand, having been burrowed. Normally, Zerg structures were too large and awkwardly shaped to burrow underground, but the sand of the beach line was loose and soft enough to make it feasible.

" _You, clever, bastard."_ Saraslha communed flatly. _"When did you set that up?"_

Vaus and his Brood all bee-lined for the Canals. _"When your allies made the nuclear strike against my assault force, I realized you had a chance of winning. This means of retreat was promptly put in place."_ He entered one, and was transferred rapidly underground, under the body of water.

" _How'd you get it to take you all across an ocean? No Nydus can cover that kind of distance."_

Vaus and his Brood all converged on a small island in this ocean. After covering a short distance over its jungled terrain, a new set of canals awaited them to take them to the next island in the hopping chain.

" _You're a mad genius, you know that? I'm starting to see how you won at Char Aleph."_

" _How do you know what I'm doing?"_ Vaus said as he entered the next Canal. _"I should be concealed from you."_

" _Take a guess, genius."_

He scanned himself, and found that a peeping parasite had been implanted in his Ultralisk body. It gave away all of his movements, as well as his location. He quickly concentrated a bit of psi energy around it, killing it.

" _Well done, but we're onto you now."_

" _It means nothing. There is a launching area on the other side of this ocean. It is now mathematically impossible for you to catch me before my Brood enters orbit, and then Warp."_

" _Then we're just going to follow wherever you go in Warp. You're not escaping, Vaus."_

" _I'd like to tell you where I'm headed, if you'd like a bit of free Intel, little leader."_ Another island, and another set of Nydus Canals. He and his Brood crossed the ocean rapidly.

" _Mm, I do like me some good Intel. Where ya goin?"_

" _Aiur."_

Saraslha's psionic voice audibly laughed at this. _"Are you out of your mind? The Protoss got their Homeworld back, you know. They'll destroy your arse."_

" _And yours as well, should you follow me there. They will surely see your Swarm over their Homeworld as an act of aggression."_

" _I see."_ She said. _"You don't plan on staying long. Warp in, warp out, and we have to follow you there to know where you head next."_

" _And I'm telling you this because I don't want your life to be in danger from the Protoss. Don't follow me."_ Vaus said.

" _And what if we just send a scouting party to peep, and then cut you off at your next destination?"_

" _I will kill this scouting party before warping again. You'll have to follow me with a large force, and damage your relations with the Daelaam."_

Saraslha audibly sighed at this over their long-distance communication. _"You really are a crazy bastard, Vaus."_ She said. _"Fine. Leave Sephulli, and stay out of Zerg Space. If the Swarm catches one whiff of you, our response will not be kind."_

" _You're allowing me to escape?"_

" _I'm sentencing you to exile, Vaus. You were given numerous chances to rejoin the Swarm, and you turned them all down. From this day forward we don't know you, we're not responsible for you, and if you bring your invasive presence to our territory or that of our allies, we won't think twice about eliminating you. You wanted independence, and now you'll have it."_

" _Your judgement is sound, little leader."_ Finally, he reached the shoreline across the ocean. Around half his Brood made it through Zagara's invasion to the Nydus canals. His launching area was nearby. _"I intend to find a place of isolation, and contemplate the Queen's words to me._

" _Farewell, Vaus. If we meet again, I'll have to kill you."_

* * *

What remained of Vaus' Brood fled from the planet, and Saraslha called off the hunt for him. Hours later, Zagara's Brood, Saraslha's, Rindell's, as well as Stukov's Infested Terrans all lifted off from the surface of the planet, leaving it clean of Zerg. Saraslha said her farewells to Nova, leaving the planet in the hands of the Dominion fleet.

They all returned to Char without incident. Stukov's swarm landed in a large compound several miles from the main Hive Cluster. Rindell was from Gystt, but was now in service to Saraslha, and so she and her Brood settled themselves in an area near the Main Cluster. Saraslha now had her own Leviathan, which idled in the air above the front lawn of the Main cluster until a better storage spot could be found for it.

At the end of the day, once everything had calmed. Saraslha and her mother were alone together, overlooking the landscape of Char from the main Hive Cluster. And it was there and then she told the entire story of what happened. She took her time, including every relevant detail and not rushing through. Occasionally Zagara had a question, but otherwise listened as Saraslha told the entire story.

" _They are called Pyrolisks, and they shoot a jet of fire?"_

"That's right." Saraslha was beaming as she described the Zerg breed which she'd invented herself. "A chemical mix based on the one used by an SCV's cutting torch. It includes grain-sized packs of natural gas, which erode quickly and then ignite upon contact with outside air."

" _Do you intend to get Abathur's input?"_

"The ultimate peer review." Saraslha nodded. "I fully intend to show them to him. He always has useful suggestions"

" _Broodmother Rindell, and then Cerebrate Vaus, both defeated by you. I did not plan for you to fight such strong opponents."_

"Eh," she jokingly brushed it off with a hand motion. "They were pushovers. I hope I get a real challenge next time."

" _Even though I created you with Terran essence…"_ Zagara was looking downward, thinking. Her hands rested on the railing. _"What you have is not a power by any description a Zerg would make. But it can be said nonetheless: your power is undeniable, Saraslha."_

"I'm still nowhere near your level, mother. Even accounting for the fact that what I have manifests itself… differently."

" _It is different, and that is the greatest thing the Swarm can attain. This power of yours will be undeniable to the senior Broodmothers as well, once this story is known to them."_ Zagara was looking upward now, at the sky. _"I want you to be with me for the next Summit, as well as any diplomatic visit I make outside of Zerg Space. As the next overqueen, you must learn a great number of things."_

Saraslha had turned around, leaning back against the railing. She felt stiff, pressured; overwhelmed by this. "So I guess it's official now."

Zagara's tone was gentle, and joyful, _"you could not remain a child, and conceal your gift forever, Saraslha."_

"I…" She felt on the verge of crying. "You accept me, then."

" _I should never have given you an impression otherwise."_

All of her emotions felt safe in coming to the surface, including negative ones. "When I was younger, you would always keep me out of sight; keep me concealed, as though you were ashamed of me." Her jaw clenched in a vicegrip as she stared away from the view. "If that's how you felt, why did you make me to begin with?"

" _Saraslha…"_

"Answer me." Her voice was a low growl.

" _I… was truly conflicted, over whether I had made the right decision in giving birth to you. A deliberately weak Zerg. It was unthinkable; everyone would find it unthinkable."_

She felt angry at this, and turned to walk away.

Zagara grabbed her hand, pulled her close and embraced her. _"I love you, Saraslha. I should have loved you from the moment you were born into this world. I'll admit that I'm not a perfect parent."_

She only resisted a bit. And then she broke down, beginning to sob. "You made me wonder whether my existence was a mistake."

" _I am so sorry for what I did to you. I wish never to hurt you again."_

Saraslha's cynical mindset immediately went to wondering whether this display of affection was only on account of her success on Sephulli. But then she remembered; it started when she came back to Char to pick up her Psi Insulator and Disruptor; before her mother knew anything about what happened.

All of her negative feelings from the past needed to be outletted. She broke down completely. Zagara embraced her just a little tighter as she cried. _"As any true Zerg is capable of, I have changed. You're my beautiful child, Saraslha."_

* * *

**One hundred ninety eight days later**

The Sixth Summit of Char had an air of festivity. The senior Broodmothers, having grown used to meeting on Char at incremental times, all had things to say and do which they'd prepared in advance. They tended to break off in groups of two or three, speaking in person with one another in the hours leading up to the big meeting with everyone and the Overqueen. Nearly all of the senior Broodmothers traveled in a Leviathan, and these massive creatures crowded the airspace in the valley around the main Hive Cluster.

In addition, the Crown Princess had created another new Zerg breed, with partial credit given to Abathur. It would be demonstrated at a piece of open land surrounded by elevated hills. The Overqueen attended the demonstration, as well as about a dozen Senior Broodmothers, along with a large number of lesser Queens.

It was in the arena-like clearing, along with an Ultralisk. The new Breed looked like a giant, scaly rodent, whose body could freely extend and recede. It walked on four legs, and could stand up on two feet easily. It was anatomically similar to a rabbit, and only a third the size of the Ultralisk.

Saraslha was there, in control of the Ultralisk. And Rindell in control of the new Breed. "Place your bets, ladies!" Saraslha announced. "These two are gonna have them a fight." The New Breed was instinctively snapping its head to different positions, checking its surroundings with a pair of big, beady eyes as it stood tall on its hind feet.

Naturally, the betting favorite was the Ultralisk. The new Breed looked nimble and flexible, but ultimately it would cave to the Ultralisk's superior size, armor and weaponry.

The bets came in, the bell rang, and Rindell had the new Breed spray the Ultralisk with a high-pressure jet of liquid. Its mouth contained a hardened bone hose end, which the liquid came out of in an extremely pressurized state. Its rodent body receded and bent down to accommodate the liquid exiting its body.

The Ultralisk was frozen solid. Ice crystallized around its front legs and head as the sprayed liquid expanded, regaining its original gaseous volume a hundred times that of its liquid state. It continued hitting the Ultralisk with brief, high-pressure spurts of the freezing compound, picking specific joints and impairing its movement.

The Ultralisk was resistant to cold, and tried to break the ice formed around its joints as it inched closer to the new Breed. But it continued to be hit with freezing shots. Once it got close, the new Breed ran past it to the other side of the fighting space on all fours, and then got on its hind legs again to continue blasting the Ultralisk, who could not move fast enough to reach the creature and strike it with its tusks.

Soon, the Ultralisk was frozen solid, rendered completely helpless.

"Ladies and Gentleman," Stukov spectated this demonstration as well. "I present to you: The Cryolisk." The Cryolisk remained semi-sat on its hind legs, darting its rodent head to peer in different directions. It nose twitched a lot. It was ordered to climb atop the frozen Ultralisk, which it did. "Its next opponent: a squad of Mutalisks."

Six Mutalisks under Saraslha's control flew by, making low passes over the fighting space. They targeted the Cryolisk.

With near-perfect accuracy, the rodent-like creature shot each Mutalisk one by one. The brief jets of liquid froze them, impairing their flight ability and causing them to crash into the ground and break or crack on impact. A few of them got shots in at the Cryolisk, and it was wounded. But it survived as the six Mutalisks were efficiently destroyed.

The psionic voices of all in attendance were either speechless or amazed. The creature was a third the mass of the Ultralisk, and therefore a third of its mineral cost. And it had defeated it, and then showed itself to be an effective anti-aircraft combatant. The Ultralisk was still alive, and slowly was able to move again as it thawed. But the fight was off, and Saraslha ordered it out of the arena once it could walk.

"The Cryolisk may be considered my gift to the Swarm." The Crown Princess announced. "The glands that produce its freezing compound entail a large Vespene cost, but you've all seen what you'll get for it. You may all take and use its essence as you please."

The group disbanded, the demonstration over. The Cryolisk essence would be available from Abathur, who had set up a much larger work area inside the main Hive Cluster. He no longer operated out of the Queen of Blades' former Leviathan.

Saraslha and Zagara walked together as everyone went their own way. The main summit would be in about an hour. _"Your inventiveness shows itself once again, daughter. You are an insurmountable asset to the Swarm."_

"Abathur had a lot of input on fine details. He improved its eyes, muscle structure, and predictive aiming. I just copy-pasted the Hydralisks aiming; he put together an all new system that works better for liquid jets."

" _But he would never have considered using scientific knowledge to produce a freezing attack. You and he work well together."_

She nodded at this, agreeing. "He doesn't call me engineered obsolescence anymore."

" _Abathur has an odd way of coming to respect others. I think he respects you now."_

"So what kind of stuff is going to come up during the Summit?"

" _Resource and territorial matters. I also address the grievances of our Broodmothers on planets close to Dominion Space. I wish to hear what all of my Broodmothers have to say, and the Summit is a chance for any of them to say it to me. Anything could come up, really."_

"We're also going to visit Korhal in about a week. You're bringing me along this time."

" _That is correct. The Terrans' Emperor is a young prodigy, much like you. I think you'll like him."_

"I also learned on the interweb that he's attractive, and single." She had a big grin.

" _Right. You've expressed interest in finding a mate. I don't think the Terran Emperor is available in that manner."_

"I know…" Her tone was lighthearted, and she was fidgeting. "When we go to Korhal, I'll get to meet a lot of new people. And I'll get to see Izsha again. I'm looking forward to it."

Zagara's tone was gentle, and had a restrained joy. _"Do you think you'll find someone to be your husband?"_

She just shrugged at this. "I want to find someone before becoming overqueen. Because afterward it will become a lot harder." She had a worried frown. "Would the Swarm be alright with that? With my being close in that way to a Terran?"

" _The Queen of Blades represents the apex of our existence. And the man by her side is Terran. There would be no objections to our ruler having something similar."_

"Yeah, but James Raynor is a Hero of the End War, like you, mother. He's a cut above the average being, regardless of race."

" _He did not need to be; our Queen of Blades loved that man deeply, and still does. And the Swarm served her interest in saving him when the need arose. Hers was the will of the Swarm, and there was no objection."_

"Yeah… you're right, I guess." They walked together along a trail in the valley around the mesa hosting the main Hive Cluster. There were winds in the ground and lava pits to their sides.

" _I want you to be happy, Saraslha."_

She hugged her around her waist as they continued walking. "I am happy, mother. Especially when I'm talking to you."

They reached a rise in the trail, overlooking an expanse of scorched landscape natural to Char. _"I do not know the future, Saraslha. What will become of our race."_ They stood straight, next to each other and overlooking the landscape.

"Under you, it's going to kick some serious hiney."

" _Then I hesitate to fathom what it will do under you, daughter."_

"Yeah… we'll see, won't we?"

" _Yes,"_ Zagara crossed her arms, not touching or looking toward her daughter as they stood together. _"We will indeed see."_


End file.
